


Incarcerated

by AceandShadow



Series: Hell and Fire [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/F, Love Confessions, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Rescue Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-02-19 08:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22008217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceandShadow/pseuds/AceandShadow
Summary: A story of a Hunter in her quest to rescue one rogue Warlock from a wrongful accusation threatening her life, finding herself in all kinds of trouble along the way
Relationships: Araeya/Kallori
Series: Hell and Fire [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1587838
Kudos: 11





	1. Outreach

Kallori was a well-known rebel amongst the Guardians – especially the Warlocks. Ikora often used to try and sit her down with a volume of lore or a book to study, but, much to her disgust, Kallori would have none of it and would rather be out gallivanting with her Titan friends – Rexus-5, Yarus and Tamitt. They were always out causing trouble ranging from interfering with Failsafe’s interface to pissing Spider off with false Shore reports, be it night or day, and as a result, the four of them were almost hated among the Guardian community. The Vanguard used to try and keep them occupied by sending them on strikes where they would be more useful, or Shaxx would try and give them ridiculous challenges in the Crucible, but they would never take anything seriously. Since Kallori didn’t fit in with the other Warlocks, she had few people who liked her. But there was one – a Hunter.

Araeya wasn’t the best Guardian to walk the Tower, but she would give it her all and despite Kallori’s antics, she would look up to her charisma and fearlessness in awe. She loved Kallori and had done ever since the two of them were Kinderguardians. She could never quite pluck up the courage to ask her out and this only got worse the more she tried. Sometimes, she would bottle it and not say anything at all. Sometimes, she would get pushed away before she could get a word in edgeways. How she longed for Kallori to see what she could see – to hear what she wanted to say. But Kallori’s rebellious personality would be the death of them both.

Before long, Kallori’s antics would be halted abruptly for Mara Sov – Awoken Queen of the Reef – had been keeping a close eye on Kallori. Being of Reef-born descent, Kallori was expected to uphold Awoken morals and traditions, some of which included personality traits such as kindness and compassion. None of which she had been doing. While she held the fearlessness of an Awoken, that was all she held. Mara had her Queen’s Wrath, Petra Venj, monitoring her moves carefully, finding Kallori to be reckless, wasteful...shameful. One day, Mara put her foot down and demanded it be put to a stop.

“I want this Warlock brought before me as soon as possible, do I make myself clear?” she announced to Petra Venj and the Paladins. With that, Petra assembled a strike team and covert operatives ready to intercept the Awoken Warlock. Before any move were made, she decided to call in a favour from her Awoken Cousin – a Hunter from the City.

Araeya received the message as she landed back at the Tower fresh off a victory over Emperor Calus aboard the Leviathan.

‘ _Meet me at the Shard of the Traveler, EDZ, tonight – PV’_ read the encryption.

Surprised she knew of the Shard, Araeya glanced at her Ghost who shook his head.

“If it wasn’t bad news, Petra would have asked you to meet her in the Reef or the Dreaming City, but if she wants to meet you off-world...” Ghost paused and sighed.

“I know. And she wants me personally and me alone...” Araeya also couldn’t finish her sentence. She folded her arms and hunched her shoulders as she signed for a package from Postmaster, followed by Kallori barging past her to meet with Yarus near Shaxx.

That evening, the two Awoken ladies met near the Shard, shrouded in darkness. Petra was the first to speak.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me. I figured I’d call in the solid you owe me,” she said looking to the side as she spoke.

“How can I help?” Araeya asked.

“I don’t think you’re going to like this,” Petra began, “but...it’s Kallori...”

“What about her?”

“The Queen has asked for her to be brought in. I’m afraid I’m clueless on her endgame, but she wants her stopped.” Petra stood for a moment absolutely still as Araeya crouched on a rock in front and sighed deeply. Her orange eyes glowed in the darkness, matching the blue tint of Ghost next to her. Petra caught her eyesight and spotted the fear behind her bravery.

“What do you need me for?” She finally asked.

“Bait. Kallori is clever...sly, almost, and her moves make her a very difficult target. You are the closest thing we have to answering the Queen’s call. We just need you to plant this monitoring device on Kallori, then try to convince her to meet you at an extraction point that we can later agree on, but she must be alone.” Petra could see Araeya’s heart sink as she explained what needed to be done.

“Why can’t I convince her to meet you at the Queen’s court – to hand herself in? Does a whole strike team need to be involved?” she practically begged Petra not to take Kallori away from her.

“I wish there was a way. I really do, because I understand what she means to you, but it’s the Queen’s orders. There’s nothing I can do except promise you that she won’t get hurt...” she stopped abruptly realising that she was making promises that she could not keep. There was no telling what Mara wanted with Kallori or what ‘lesson’ she would teach her, but she needed to get the job done and Araeya was her best call. Araeya looked up at Petra and saw her eyes glint in the moonlight. She could see Petra meant no harm to Kallori. She only wished Mara didn’t as well. Nonetheless, she agreed, and Petra handed her the device and told her to plant it on Kallori’s belt and await a signal and rendezvous point where extraction would take place. On mutual grounds, the Awoken ladies left each other, but Araeya couldn’t help but wonder if she’d made the right call – if she was doing the right thing or for the right person.


	2. Apprehension

The following morning, Araeya was rudely awakened by Kallori talking shit outside her window with Tamitt. She looked outside.

“I got this letter and it _claims_ to be from Queen Mara! Ha! Yeah right! Probably Rexus’ idea, wasn’t it?” she waved the note in front of Tamitt’s face as he scowled at her.

“I’d take it seriously, Kal. Rexus does many stupid things, but impersonating the Awoken Queen is not one of them,” he explained. He, too, was of Awoken descent and knew when the Queen was angry. Between the four of them, Tamitt was always the more serious. He was always amongst them, but rarely jeered with them. He had a fun side but knew when it was time to stop. He always had a feeling that Mara watched over the Awoken no matter where they were in the system or who they were – Guardian or not. In having this feeling, when with Kallori and the others, he often wondered if she could see how disgraceful she was being. It turned out that she could, and he was right. Now there was nothing he could do to protect her.

“When I have physical proof that this is genuine, I might consider it,” she said as she scrunched up the paper.

“Kal, listen to me. Mara watches the Awoken’s every move no matter where they are. She will rain down on you hard and you won’t see it coming. There’s nothing that I can do to stop it without crossing boundaries into treason where I get arrested, too...”

“Eh. I wouldn’t worry about it.” With that, she tossed the paper over her shoulder and walked over to Ikora in the Bazaar where she would attempt to sit her down again. Tamitt shook his head and walked over to the landing pad to board his ship to the Derelict. Araeya jumped down from her window, Ghost in tow, and grabbed the paper to read it;

‘ _Kallori,_

_You are hereby charged with failure to uphold Awoken morals and traditions as per agreement with your elders and your ancestors. You will be brought before me where I shall personally judge you to determine your level of freedom and hinderances. Hand yourself in and you will go unharmed. Failure to comply may result in irreversible consequences of which only you are responsible for._

_Mara Sov, Awoken Queen of the Reef’_

Araeya started shaking. She wouldn’t see Kallori murdered at the hands of enforcement when she could be saved.

She was shaken out of her thoughts by a rumble emanating from her receiver – Petra’s notice. It was time.

Araeya walked over to Ikora where Kallori stood and slipped the monitoring device onto her belt and hovered behind. Kallori turned around.

“Awfully rude of you to hang around us while we were in conversation, huh, Araeya...” Kallori smirked.

“Actually Araeya, impeccable timing as usual. Kallori and I were just finishing up. Clearly the conversation will go nowhere any time soon, but trust me, Kallori – I will make a Warlock of you, yet,” Ikora said, folding her arms. Kallori waved her arm.

“Sure you will...when the Traveller kills us all.”

Araeya cleared her throat. “I need to talk to you, Kal. Would you mind accompanying me to the Winding Cove?” Araeya was always politely spoken. She hid her fears well.

“Why?” Kallori questioned.

“No particular reason. I would just like to catch up, since you don’t hang out with me anymore.” Araeya mustered a smile from underneath her nervous face. Kallori agreed and followed Araeya to her ship and they travelled to the Winding Cove in the EDZ, where only Araeya knew of the army of Awoken Paladins that were camping there.

The flight was short, but tense and Araeya was considering telling Kallori how she felt, but every time she opened her mouth to speak, no sound would come out. No words would form. She sighed heavily, seriously contemplating everything she was doing.

“What’s up with you, mardy-face? You won’t stop constantly sighing. Is my company not good enough for you?” Kallori asked from behind Araeya’s seat, leaning over her shoulder.

“No! Not at all! I just...” Araeya paused for a moment, working out what she wanted to say. She sighed again. “I’m just tired is all.”

“Suit yourself. Did you want to give me some context as to what you wanted and why here specifically?” Kallori was getting impatient as they landed at the Winding Cove transmat zone.

“Honestly, I just thought this place was quietest for us to catch up.” Araeya looked the other way to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. As they stepped out from Araeya’s ship, Kallori stopped and turned back to Araeya.

“Well are you coming out or not?”

Araeya smiled a little with the pun that only she understood and walked alongside Kallori into the clearing. She pondered. Her confliction as to whether she should tell Kallori what was really going on, or to tell her how she felt, or to try and stop what Petra was doing and get herself arrested in the meantime was getting stronger and she felt all the more confused. In doing so, she hadn’t noticed Kallori sat on a rock with her arms folded, staring her down.

“So? You gonna start the conversation rolling with what you wanna talk about? I haven’t got all day...well I have, but I don’t want to spend it here.” Kallori unfolded her arms and stood up to lean against the rock in the clearing. In the way she was stood, her hair was in the wind and Araeya was mesmerised by her aura as she stood, unafraid. Araeya looked around the Cove and caught sight of a Paladin sniper and she shivered. Reality was setting in. She continued to look around and saw as Petra stood up from the crashed Skiff. She began to panic and hurried over to where Kallori was stood and grabbed her shoulders to turn her.

“Kallori, listen to me, I haven’t got much time-”

“Kallori!” Petra’s megaphone interrupted Araeya’s plea and echoed across the Cove. She stared into space as she realised she was too late and there was nothing she could do. “You have one chance now – turn yourself in by order of the Queen. We have permission to use lethal force if you resist!”

Kallori turned to face Araeya dead in the eyes, fury igniting in her face. She also grabbed her by the shoulders.

“You brought me here so that the Queen could arrest me?! I’ve never considered us close friends, Araeya, but I would have never put you down as a betrayer,” Kallori said in a spiteful tone. Araeya couldn’t bear to look at her anymore, and instead lowered her head in shame.

“I wanted to tell you, Kal. I really did.”

“Kallori! Make your decision now. We have you surrounded. It’s up to you to determine in what condition we take you.” Petra was getting impatient, but Kallori ignored her and continued staring down at Araeya in silent fury.

“Kallori, please. Just let them take you and you can come out of this,” Araeya pleaded as she stepped away from the clearing so as not to get shot by the snipers, should that situation arise.

Petra reconnected the comms unit and tagged Araeya in it so that she could understand what they were about to do. “Open fire from the south quadrant. Do not kill her,” Petra commanded. Araeya whirled around to the south and saw three snipers stand and aim at Kallori. It was then that she decided to run back into the clearing and stood in front of Kallori, arms outstretched protecting her.

“No!” She shouted and braced herself for impact.

“Araeya! Don’t get involved. I don’t want to have to bring you in, too,” Petra shouted.

“I got involved the moment you asked me to meet you!” Araeya responded. Kallori’s neck turned to Araeya and if she wasn’t already angry, then she was this time and she glared into Araeya’s soul. Araeya felt her stare burn.

With that, one of the snipers shot Araeya instead of Kallori and Araeya fell to the floor in pain and Kallori’s expression changed. She was no longer angry at Araeya for what had been done, but more in shock as Araeya had literally taken a bullet for her, and with this, she came to her senses and realised what this was really all about. She knelt beside Araeya and cast a healing rift as she clutched her shoulder, trying to slow the bleeding. She began breathing heavily as Araeya slowly lie down with lack of strength.

“Stay with me,” she pleaded.

“North quadrant, begin extraction,” Petra said over the comms, but Kallori heard from Araeya’s unit and turned around. She was no longer protecting just herself, but the Hunter as well.

Supercharged, she unleashed Chaos Reach upon the Awoken soldiers who rallied behind her. They stood no chance against her and this only made Petra more and more angry. It was supposed to be a simple extraction – go in, take Kallori, get out. She hadn’t accounted for Kallori’s temper and there she stood watching her soldiers get supered by a Guardian. They shot her with everything they had and Kallori was taking the damage. Petra abandoned her post on top of the cliff and jumped down into the clearing with her sidearm and shot the device on Kallori’s belt where it sparked and suppressed her, and she collapsed onto the floor in a heap in shock.

“Move in,” she ordered. She grabbed Araeya and pulled her up to the bridge.

“That ‘monitoring device’...was a suppression detonator?!” Araeya asked, stunned and breathless. Petra took pity on her.

“I didn’t want to hurt Kallori, but I misjudged her stubbornness. Do you see now why she needs to be brought before the Queen? As Awoken people, we cannot allow her to destroy any morals that we hold, any dignity that we have clutched since the Reef Wars. What she has just done there is everything we have been trying to protect ourselves against.” She paused and knelt in front of Araeya. “I won’t make anymore promises,” she whispered, “but this won’t be the last you see of her, if she cooperates...but she has to cooperate from now on,” The two of them looked down as the extraction team surrounded Kallori, all guns trained on her.

“Kallori, you are under arrest for failure to uphold the Awoken values agreed by your elders and ancestors, treason, and failing to hand yourself in upon request. You shall be brought before your Queen for judgement tomorrow morning. You will not be expected to say anything unless requested so by Mara Sov. Any form of resistance will be perceived as an act of terror and you will be subdued. We have permission to use lethal force,” announced Paladin Kamala Rior.

Araeya saw how Kallori was on her knees as they bound her hands behind her back – the weakest she’d seen her. Kallori was stubborn against the Paladins’ touches and she flinched every time they tried to restrain her. She wasn’t about to admit it, but she was afraid of what was about to happen. She only wished she had paid attention to the letter when she read it to Tamitt. She wished she’d listened to Tamitt when he warned her of Mara’s knowledge. But it was too late. She was weak and she was helpless as she knelt on the floor in shame. They allowed her to create a healing rift before they picked her up and took her to their ship. Petra put a hand on Araeya’s shoulder in the hope of comforting her, but she shrugged it off. She was too upset about Kallori’s words before she was apprehended;

‘ _I’ve never considered us close friends, Araeya, but I would have never put you down as a betrayer_.’

‘ _A betrayer...’_ She pondered these words as she began to see her chances of redemption dwindle and become near enough non-existent. She wasn’t about to see her favourite Warlock get arrested and taken away without her at least confessing her love and she ran towards the ship, still clutching at her bleeding shoulder.

In the heat of the moment, Petra grabbed Araeya’s wrist and pulled her back before wrapping her arms around her waist to restrain her. Araeya fought her hardest to run to Kallori, but Petra was much stronger than she’d anticipated.

“Araeya what are you doing? There’s nothing you can do now, the job is done,” Petra said, strained. Araeya continued grunting and fighting and it didn’t take long before she was free and bolted across the bridge and past the defences to the Paladins’ ship. Without hesitation, she grabbed Kallori’s face and pulled her into her own and kissed her.

Kallori kissed back and the two of them were locked in a single moment in time and all their fears vanished as they embraced one another. Kallori tried to hold Araeya but was restricted and instead made up for it with passionate kissing. Araeya had never felt like this before. Everything she ever felt about Kallori was in this moment and she felt proud that she finally got the chance to express herself – even if the situation was not how she imagined.

She could hear the Paladins shouting at them to let go of one another, but she took no notice. She could only hear Kallori’s heartbeat. She could only feel her soft skin under her hands, her face tender and bruised. Both had tears streaming down their faces.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to be the way...” Araeya whispered, her head pressed against Kallori’s.

“It’s alright. I get it now,” Kallori whispered back.

Petra interrupted the moment by pulling on Araeya’s shoulder and the two of them stopped and stared into each other’s eyes. Araeya wiped the blood from Kallori’s face before she was dragged into the ship and the door sealed. Araeya gazed up at the ship as it disappeared into the distance. She fell to her knees, Petra’s hand still on her shoulder.

“What’s going to happen to her?” Araeya asked, blinking back tears. Petra thought about her answer very carefully before she spoke. In the end, she was merely honest.

“I don’t know. It’s out of my hands now.”

“You promised you wouldn’t hurt her. What have you done, Petra?” Araeya’s voice broke. Petra sighed and began binding Araeya’s bullet wound on her shoulder with one of her bandages, Araeya refusing to look at her.

“It needed doing, Araeya, and you played your part.” Zavala had come from around the corner and stunned Araeya as she looked up.

“You knew?!” She asked, now more angry than upset. Her hands formed fists and she punched the ground before standing up again, coming face-to-face with Zavala. “You stood there and watched me get shot?! You stood there and watched Kal suffer like that?! You were the one who gave them permission to use lethal force, weren’t you? You’ve never stood for what’s right for everyone – only what’s right for you-”

“The Awoken Queen came to me personally a matter of weeks ago to discuss the matter,” Zavala interrupted, raising his hand. “I saw that something major needed doing to get Kallori under control and neither me nor Shaxx nor Ikora could find a way to sort it out without resulting to last resorts. As Vanguard, I don’t like to see any Guardian get hurt, especially not ones with great mental power like you or Kallori, but with great power comes great responsibility and Kallori was not upholding the Guardians’ promise, let alone the Awoken morals. When Mara came to me and put forward her concerns, there was a unanimous decision that a plan be forged and Kallori be taught a lesson in the hopes of making her a Guardian to upkeep these values. I didn’t want to get any other Guardian involved, but Petra Venj saw something in you that I did not – righteousness. You will do anything if it’s the right thing to do, and you proved that today. It is only unfortunate your affections almost got you into trouble.” Zavala looked down at Araeya with the same blank expression as always, staring at her bullet wound. She knew he was right and with him being Awoken as well, she knew she couldn’t argue. Her expression changed from angry to shock and disbelief. Her hands were no longer fists and her emotions blank as if she could feel nothing.

“Petra will escort you back to the Tower,” he said. Araeya watched Zavala leave as Petra pulled her shoulder around her neck to take the pressure off. She didn’t know how to feel, by this point. She felt fear for what Mara would do to Kallori. She felt sadness as she was the catalyst that led to her arrest. She felt shame that she betrayed the very person she loved the most. She felt anger as she felt betrayed herself by the Vanguard who swore to help the Guardians.


	3. The Awoken Plan

Back at the Tower, Petra dropped Araeya off in the hangar and greeted Amanda Holliday. Araeya was too upset over what had just happened to speak to anyone and didn’t even say goodbye to Petra who she had trusted with her life on many occasions. Petra stood still and stared at Araeya, then leaned into Amanda.

“She hasn’t had a good day. Keep an eye on her, for me?” she asked.

“Oh, sure thing. Shall I alert the Commander?” Amanda looked at the wound on her shoulder and thought it was an attack gone wrong and thought that Zavala needed to know in case he needed to prepare a force to deal with the matter.

“No!” Petra didn’t mean to be so loud and so abrupt, but she panicked for a second. “No, sorry. I think it’s more of a personal issue and I think telling Zavala would only embarrass her,” she corrected herself.

“Oh, oh yeah, sure. Is there anything I can do in the meantime?” Amanda asked now confused as to where the wound came from.

“Don’t let her board her ship,” Petra thought for a moment and then added, “she’s not in a fit state to be let out alone.”

Amanda looked at Petra puzzled, but thought nothing of it. “I’ll put her ship on lockdown.” With that, Petra said her goodbyes and stole one last look at Araeya as she sat on the hangar steps, head in her hands, before she boarded her ship and headed back to the Reef to rendezvous with the Paladins.

Amanda went to sit next to Araeya to comfort her – girl to girl – but she just stood up and left without any words being exchanged. As she headed out of the Hangar, Cayde-6 came back from a meeting with Aunor and went to sit with Colonel and he sighed as he slumped himself down next to her. Araeya thought Cayde was the best person to confront about the whole situation, so she wandered over to him. Being a Hunter and associate of Cayde-6, he was more likely to listen to her than anyone else. She sat herself opposite him.

“Hey, Hunter. Glad to see you still breathing, although you are looking awfully blue...” Then he looked at Araeya’s shoulder, “...and red, for that matter.” He tried his best not to laugh as talking to a sad Awoken brought out all his jokes. Araeya let a little smile escape as she looked at Cayde, ignoring his remark on her shoulder.

“Cayde, were you in a meeting with Mara a couple of weeks ago?” She asked. Cayde thought for a moment.

“Mara as in Sov? Yeah. Can’t remember what it was about, though. I think I fell asleep. I have no time for self-proclaimed Awoken royalty these days. Why do you ask?”

“The topic was Kallori. Tell me you remember at least some of what was said...”

“Oh! Kallori the rogue Warlock? Yeah, yeah, I remember, now. Mara just came in, assembled us against our will, Paladins in tow and demanded we do something about her. Something about Awoken values and related crap. Next thing I know, Zavala is all like ‘hear hear’ and then Ikora jumps in like ‘I have tried this, that and the other thing’ and Shaxx bounces in like ‘protect my Crucible’ and I just got bored.” Cayde droned on a bit, but what he was saying was giving Araeya a good indication of how people felt about Kallori.

“So, she was really bothering people, huh?” She tried her best to stay calm and sound interested while quizzing Cayde on the matter.

“Yeah. Well, not me. She used to make me laugh. I think she was one of the very very few Warlocks that used to beat me at my own game. Wait, why are you so interested? Aren’t you usually the really quiet Hunter who doesn’t really say much and still manages to get the job done?” Araeya blushed. She didn’t know she was all that quiet, but she was glad he knew her for her, instead of just one of his associates.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone?” She asked. Cayde leant in, chin on his fist.

“Hey, I’m arguably more of a loudmouth than Lord Shaxx, but at least I know when to shut up. So, come on. What’s going on?” Araeya paused and thought of her reply carefully.

“Petra arrested Kallori this morning with my help,” Cayde’s eyes brightened and he sat upright, more intrigued as Araeya continued. “Petra promised she wouldn’t get hurt, but she was apprehended covered in blood. Zavala was there to see it all. He did nothing. They threatened to take me in, too, had I not backed off in fear. I want her to have a fair trial, but I’m worried Mara won’t give her that option.”

Cayde stood up and beckoned Araeya to do the same. He took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, his ever brighter with a challenge. “Look, I have something to say here; never back off in fear. You are a Hunter and more to the point, you are _my_ Hunter. I don’t pick them because I have to – which I do – but because they deserve it.” Araeya looked shameful. Cayde continued. “That said, no-one threatens my Hunters when they are doing their duty. You were protecting someone and putting your freedom – and quite frankly your life – on the line, and for that, I will help. Zavala has crossed me way too often and as soon as you said his name, I’d heard enough. I have no idea what I have just agreed to do, but I guess I’ll do it.” Cayde let go of Araeya’s shoulders and she sighed with relief and smiled.

“Thanks, Cayde,” she said.

“Oh, don’t thank me yet,” he replied, smiling from ear to ear, “So, what’s the plan?” he asked as he folded his arms and turned to his maps. Araeya explained that she didn’t think she’d get this far, and Cayde laughed. Any excuse to get him out the Tower, these days. Araeya then tried to explain who else she thought would help them.

“Woah hold up. Three Titans, are you serious?”

“Rexus-5, Yarus and Tamitt are Kallori’s best friends and they look out for each other. If they knew what happened this morning, they’d have boarded their ships immediately to help,” Araeya said. Cayde was stunned.

“I didn’t think anyone could be friends with a Titan,” he whispered, “but I suppose all help will do. Now we just need an actual plan of action. I can’t believe I’m being proactive in helping a Warlock.”

“Think of it like you’re helping me, not the Warlock.”

“Yeah, that makes things a bit better.” Cayde sent Araeya to hunt down the three Titans, while he sat and thought of a plan to help Kallori and each idea he had ranged from a jail break to a full-blown assault on the Reef – all of which fitted his ‘shoot them all to death strategy’ but was not very subtle, and that wasn’t good enough when dealing with the Awoken Queen.

Meanwhile, in the Bazaar, hanging out by the New Monarchy Faction, stood Tamitt. Araeya approached him slowly, thinking very carefully about how to tell him what had happened that morning. She was thinking so deeply, she hadn’t realised that she had been staring right at him – and he noticed.

“You okay there, Araeya? You’re looking lost in thought,” he asked, gawking at her wound. This made her jump out of her thoughts and she recollected her thoughts before she spoke, subconsciously placing her hand over her bandages. They were beginning to itch.

“Yeah, I’m fine Tamitt. I came looking for you,” she began. She didn’t need to continue as Tamitt had guessed what it was about.

“It’s Kallori isn’t it?” Stunned, Araeya took a step back, eyes watering.

“How did you know?” She started shaking.

“It’s the only topic that every comes up when we speak. Every time we talk to one another, Kallori is either with us in person, or with us in conversation. So, come on, out with it. What’s she done this time?” He folded his arms, impatiently.

“She was arrested this morning,” Araeya sighed. Tamitt immediately unfolded his arms and also took a step back. He knew the letter was real and began to wonder if it was his fault that she got arrested. Without hesitation, he called Yarus and Rexus immediately. As soon as the four of them were in the same place, Araeya beckoned them back to the Hangar and filled them in en route, trying not to get upset about it.

Once they were back at the Hangar with Cayde, Rexus began to question what had happened and began panicking. He never knew Mara had such power of the Awoken, Guardians included, and this made his eyes glint with fear. Cayde saw this and patted his shoulder fondly.

“It’s all good, buddy. We’re going to fix this,” he said, “but it is so, _so_ important that neither Zavala, Shaxx or Ikora get wind of what we’re doing, here. They were in on it and voted for it. Now I’m not a Warlock person – they tend to get in the way with their books and big words – but Zavala claimed it to be a unanimous decision, yet I was asleep and so, technically, it wasn’t and went against my will...and Kallori is quite the amusing sort. So, we gotta do the opposite of Shaxx and shut up. I won’t have any Titans standing in my way, understand? Hunters are master race, no questions asked. Now...” Cayde waved a finger at the three Titans and turned to his maps once more and began droning on about how they were going to break into the Prison of Elders, and break Kallori out, pointing here, there and everyway. None of the Guardians heard what they were supposed to do since Cayde kept getting sidetracked with various tales of his experiences on the Reef.

Eventually, Araeya stepped in and interrupted – a bold move on a bold Hunter.

Her theory was that Kallori wasn’t going to be in the main wings of the Prison of Elders because that was where the Challenge of the Elders was conducted. She had experience with that based on her victory over Skolas one time and she caught a glimpse of some of the main wings when she was last there with Petra Venj. So, she asked Cayde if he knew of any of the other wings, as she wasn’t likely to be kept amongst the Fallen, Cabal or Vex – or Hive if there were any.

“It’s funny you should ask,” he began, “but Petra and I have been working on quite the clean-up on the Tangled Shore and she showed me a secret wing...” He paused, finger on his nose.

“How accessible is it?” Yarus asked.

“Very, actually...for me,” was the reply. Cayde showed a snide, very secretive smile as he pulled a playing card from his sleeve – a 9 of Aces. He explained that one of his cards was transformed into an access card when Petra first confided in him after a problem arose on the Shore and it led to a secret wing of the Prison where only Petra, the Techeuns and Variks knew of. He tapped it against the side of his head. “It permits one-person passage through the tunnel,” he said, “so we’ll have to think of a way of getting all 5 of us in, then 6 of us out.” Araeya thought that wasn’t necessary.

“Maybe not all of us have to go in, though, Cayde. Only 3 of us maximum should go through – we are going to need scouts,” she said. Everyone looked at one another and were immediately nominating people to stay outside as scouts.

“I think Rexus should do it!” Exclaimed Yarus, pointing his finger at Rexus.

“Definitely not!” exclaimed Tamitt, “Rexus can’t see a doughnut in his hand when he’s trying to eat it, there’s no way he’d be suitable for scouting.”

“For that comment, Tamitt, I definitely _want_ to be a scout,” Rexus scoffed with his arms folded and his head tilted upwards. Cayde placed his palm across his forehead to cover his eyes as he shook it in disgust. Araeya did the same.

“...Titans...” Cayde said with a tired sigh. All three Titans turned around to face Cayde, all with their hands on their hips. Cayde threw his arms in the air. “Hey! I’m just sayin’. Jeez. Truth hurts, huh?” Araeya also sighed tiredly.

“Okay, here, let’s do it this way; Me, Cayde and Tamitt will go in, Rexus and Yarus will stay out.” Her point was final, but Rexus had one question;

“Why?” This time, everyone sighed.

“Okay. Well Kallori is my problem for starters, Cayde is the man with the tools to get us in and Tamitt is actually quiet when on a mission.” After that, no-one said a word. No complaints. No objections. Nothing and Araeya smiled, pleased with herself. Even Cayde was impressed. He leant into her.

“Good job – that’s how a Hunter does it,” he whispered. “Right! We need to leave.” Cayde pointed to the landing pads. Everyone summoned their ships ready for take off and cleared it with Amanda. All except Araeya.

“Sorry, Araeya, your ship’s on lockdown. Commander’s orders,” Amanda explained. Araeya turned to Cayde in shock.

“Since when?” he asked.

“Araeya came back this mornin’ in quite the state and Zavala said she is not safe to leave. No-go until tomorrow,” Amanda had twisted the story slightly.

“Well now I’m taking her out as her mentor. A Hunter can _not_ be cooped up in the Tower for this long.”

“Sorry, Cayde, Commander’s orders.” Amanda shook her head and turned around as Zavala walked into the Hangar. Araeya quickly leant into the Titans.

“Go!” she whispered sharply to them, “We’ll catch up with you.” Cleared for take-off, the Titans left for the Tangled Shore ahead of Araeya and Cayde.

“What’s going on? Where did they go in such a hurry?” Zavala asked.

“Oh, Commander Zavala! Cayde wanted to take Araeya out for mentoring, but her ship is on lockdown and she isn’t allowed to leave until tomorrow’s review of safety,” Amanda explained yet again. Zavala grunted and repositioned himself.

“Cayde. We have spoken about this before; you can’t decide to mentor your Guardians every time their ship is on lockdown...”

“See there you go again. ‘Cayde this’, ‘Cayde that’, and why can’t I? You always complain when I don’t mentor, but then you complain when I do. Make up your mind, Big Blue!” Cayde wasn’t aggressive but made a point – even if it was being awkward. In the background, Araeya was scratching at her bullet wound again. She was losing patience with the bandages and wanted to take them off, but she was still bleeding slightly, so she needn’t dare just yet. Zavala groaned and rolled his eyes.

“I’m not going through this again, Cayde. This discussion is over – she is not leaving this Tower. Period.” Zavala folded his arms aggressively and began walking away and back into the Courtyard. Amanda shrugged her shoulders and carried on about her day. Cayde huffed. Both stood in silence for a while as they both pondered what had been said. It wasn’t long before Cayde’s face lit up in anticipation when he thought of an idea.

“Hey, my ship is actually bigger than the average Guardian model. I could fit us both in there and I’m already cleared for the left landing pad over there,” he whispered as he pointed to his ship – the Queen of Hearts. Araeya smiled and they ran over to his ship and left unseen. What they hadn’t thought about was how to get everyone home afterwards, if the job was done.


	4. No Negotiations

Upon arriving at the Tangled Shore, only Tamitt and Yarus were stood waiting for them.

“You took your time,” said Yarus.

“Yeah. Minor complications with some more Awoken,” joked Cayde. “Where’s the bigger one? The Exo without a brain?” Both Yarus and Tamitt turned to face a rock the other side of the landing zone where a feathered figure could just be made out in the mist.

“The brainless Exo wanted to play Hide and Seek while we waited, but he wanted to hide, so we let him. Every so often, we just obnoxiously shout;

Oh no! We can’t find Rexus! Yarus! Have you seen him?”

“No! I haven’t Tamitt! We can’t find him anywhere!” They both laughed. “We can hear him giggling to himself from here. I can’t believe he’s going to be my scouting buddy,” Yarus whispered to Araeya. Yarus was less than happy that Rexus was going to be the one helping him. Cayde sighed.

“Rexus, ol’ buddy, you win. You can come out now!” And with a great big leap, Rexus hopped over the rock he was hiding behind and came bounding over to where they were stood, arms flailing in the air, laughing.

“I DID IT!” he shouted, “I WON A GAME OF HIDE AND SEEK! Usually I laugh and give myself away or I find places too small to cover me. BUT NOT THIS TIME!” His voice gradually got louder the more excited he got, and he continuously bounced up and down. Cayde began to worry.

“Alright buddy, you need to settle down,” he tried to bring Rexus down to at least an inside voice, “we are going to successfully complete this and you are going to do me a _huge_ favour.” Cayde grabbed the Titan by his shoulders and brought him down to the ground. Their voices turned to whispers as Cayde eyed Rexus very carefully. “ _You_ are going to be the best scout the Guardians have ever seen, right? Your voice will never exceed a whisper. Your moves never sudden. Your attention always on your surroundings. Understand? Be my favourite, yeah?” After that, Rexus had calmed down properly and began working on his focus. The five of them began walking in the direction of the Elders’ landing site.

Araeya and Cayde trailed behind the three Titans as they walk ahead and Araeya looked at Cayde.

“How did you do that?” she asked.

“He’s a Titan,” he began, “you just gotta look ‘em in the eyes, use simple words and make ‘em feel special.” Cayde chuckled to himself. “They’re all stupid, you see. You show ‘em who’s boss and they crumble...except Zavala. For some reason he’s so stupid he can’t see when I’m making a point.” He paused. “Titans,” and he rolled his eyes. Araeya had always perceived Titans as the walls that never break, but now she saw them as walls that stood in the way. _Especially_ Zavala. “Hey. What you thinkin’ about, there?” Cayde made her jump as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Nothing,” she replied, “I just...I used to see Zavala and be in awe of what an Awoken example he was. Now I can’t bare to look at him.”

“You get used to it.” Cayde said, continuing to look into the distance. Araeya looked at him puzzled. He looked back and smiled. “When I was first rezzed, I was a nervous guy – hard to believe, I know – but see, it was all a bit of a mess. When I got to the Tower, Zavala, back then, wasn’t the commander, but he showed compassion and understanding. I mean, Osiris wasn’t around much, and I didn’t know Andal that well, then, either, but he made sure I knew everyone. When all that shit about Osiris went down, the Tower became awfully divided and that was when I started to wander off more often – especially since Andal had become Hunter Vanguard and me and my buddy, Shiro-4 were left to get on with it. Zavala didn’t like that, and it only got worse when I became the Hunter Vanguard because I never wanted to be. Still don’t. I don’t like that level of responsibility. All those meetings, being cooped up in the Tower, seeing all my Hunters out exploring. I got jealous and began to care less and he hates that. He thinks that because he’s the commander, everything he says is right, his methods are the right ones for the job, his way goes etcetera, etcetera. What happened today has proven that his methods aren’t. There’s no way the arrest should have involved anyone other than Petra and Kallori, let alone a strike team, you and him.” Cayde paused for a second, before looking at Araeya again. “I lost you, didn’t I?” She smiled.

“No. You’ve told me everything I’d been thinking.”

“MENTORING AT ITS BEST!” Cayde shouted excited and pumping his fist into the air, unaware that he’d alerted the Titans in front, who had all stopped to turn around. Cayde laughed. “Sorry.” He whispered.

After a while, they came to what looked like a Fallen Transmat terminal. Cayde asked them all to stop.

“Alright, guys, this is our stop. Araeya, Tamitt and I are going to activate the terminal and jump into the hidden wing of the Prison, while Yarus and Rexus are going to be superstars and stay here. You two are going to be hidden as well – Yarus up on top of that cliff and Rexus behind that rock. That way, Yarus can see into the distance to see any incoming Skiffs or Techeun Galliots and Rexus can see down the alleys for any Awoken. Got it? Your attentions shouldn’t be on anything except your surroundings,” Cayde said, clearing the plan for the two Titans staying behind. They all nodded and readied their positions. “Right, I’m going to jump in and activate the persons portal. That will allow you both to jump in after me. Once we’re in, I’ll stay by the exit and you two go and find Kallori,” Cayde pointed at Tamitt and Araeya and they both nodded in sync. Cayde pulled out his playing card again and held it to the scanner at the top of the antennae and he was transmatted into the hidden wing of the Prison of Elders.

On the other side of the corridor, in the control room, stood Variks, the Loyal – a Fallen Vandal from the House of Judgement who works with the Queen and her Techeuns. Cayde was very familiar with Variks and Petra trusted him with her life. Cayde would never place that kind of trust in a Fallen of any stature, from any house or affiliation. He’s never trusted them, even when they’ve saved his life.

Variks had two upper arms missing, replaced with metal arms, and one of his legs was also missing, also replaced with a metal on. Variks had been abused all his life as part of House Judgement, but he continued his life when the Awoken Queen vowed to safeguard the Eliksni by allowing them to work for her. This included the House of Kings and their Kell. House Kings and House Judgement sat by one another and confided in each other – or what was left of them.

Cayde strolled up to Variks in the control room while Araeya stood on the transmat platform awaiting her turn to roll into the Prison.

“Cayde-6...you are not expected here, yet...” Variks looked up from his computer system and eyed Cayde with all four of his beady eyes, his voice modulator blaring through Cayde’s eardrums.

“Nah, I know, just thought I’d pay a visit is all. Heard you got a couple new inmates gracing your judgement?” Cayde was very tactically going to persuade Variks to tell him where Kallori was, but he needed to suck up to him, which was difficult for his ego to cope with.

“Yesss...new Vex show up on Reef...shooting Awoken...not sure why...” he looked at Cayde carefully.

“Nothing out of the ordinary then?”

Variks paused for a second, studying Cayde’s facial expressions – or lack thereof. “Marakel wanted special inmate...Awoken...not sure why, yesss.” Attempting to sound interested, Cayde asked about the Awoken.

“Any particular type of Awoken, or just one you picked up from outside?”

“No...Marakel want this one specifically for her...she not want Judgement given from me...yesss,” Variks lowered his head. “Yesss... I want to give Judgement to this one...she needs proper Judgement...yesss.”

“What’s so special about this one?” Cayde asked, now leaning against the desk.

“This one...she is a Guardian...one who holds Traveler's gift – like you, Cayde-6...yesss,” Variks’ modulator began crackling as he spoke.

“Is she one of mine?”

“Lightbearer...yesss. Hunter...no. She wears the bond of another type...yesss.”

“So, she’s a Warlock?” Cayde stood upright and placed his hands on his hips.

“Yesss.”

“How many people know?”

Variks didn’t want to respond to that, but his morals compelled him to – Cayde was officially his boss alongside Petra Venj. “Me, Petra Venj, Marakel and Awoken Commander and now you...yesss.”

Cayde very carefully stepped back along the corridor to the Transmat beacon and swiped his card. As soon as Araeya was on the other side, with him, he pushed her into the ground, never moving his line of sight away from Variks as he fiddle with some control systems at the back of the control room. “Stay down, don’t move...” he whispered, trying to keep his voice as quiet as possible. Araeya looked at Variks in fear. A Fallen in the Prison of Elders who _wasn’t_ a prisoner? “He may look like a bug, but he is a bug who controls the inmates around here. Sit behind those barrels of ether and watch that corridor, there. That’s the way to supermax – me and Petra often have to go down there, I bet that’s where they’re keeping her. I’ll get Tamitt in.” Araeya crawled behind the barrels as ordered and sat awaiting an Awoken Titan’s arrival, looking down the corridor to supermax.

“So, Variks, where does one keep a Warlock, other than in the Tower where they belong?” Cayde had moved away from the Transmat beacon and began quizzing Variks and making him uncomfortable.

“Remember, Awoken Commander said we could...yesss,” he said, attempting to cover his backside.

“That’s besides the point, bug, as a member of the Vanguard _and_ your team – which Zavala is _not_ – I should always know where the Guardians are. Especially here, of all places. And...did you forget me, and Petra run the supermax wing? Or do I need to remind you of what happened last time?” Cayde’s Exo facials expressions made it very clear to Variks that he was somewhat pissed off by the matter and he watched Variks squirm as he interrogated him.

“Awoken Warlock...yesss...Lightbearer of the City...she is in supermax...Marakel’s orders...yesss.” Variks said almost hiding behind his system computer. Cayde pointed down the corridor and clicked his fingers. Hidden in the darkness, Araeya could see that was her cue to run down and wait at the bottom. Cayde backed away again and transmatted Tamitt in, also pushing him into the ground.

“Araeya is down the bottom of that corridor waiting for you,” he whispered, “I’m gonna keep the bug here distracted and you two are going to do your damndest not to get busted, got it?” Tamitt nodded and crawled down the corridor to supermax. Cayde continued talking to Variks – a true sacrifice since the two of them have never properly gotten on and that was established on both parts – Cayde’s tolerance of the Fallen was non-existent and Variks was too awkward around Guardians.

Down the corridor on the way to supermax, Araeya and Tamitt never said a word to each other, but instead followed each other’s moves very carefully so as not to be seen by any wandering Paladins. It wasn’t until they were 20 floors down that they saw what looked to be a secret containment unit protected by blast doors.

“So, what do we do now?” asked Tamitt. They were both sat crouching behind some Cabal gear looking across at the decks to the supermax containment unit.

“We have to get in some way. I don’t think we have any means of doing so, that’s the problem.” Araeya looked around to see who was about. “Is there a chance we can sneak in behind someone, maybe?”

“I think we’d be waiting a long time, for that. Time Cayde probably doesn’t have. You’re a Nightstalker, aren’t you? Quick recon?” Tamitt made a valid point and Araeya dropped a smoke pellet, turning her invisible and she ran across the decks to the blast doors to quickly study them and ran back behind cover.

“There’s no locks at all. I think they’re controlled by the control centre where that Vandal sits...”

“Oh god, so we’ve now got to try and convince a Fallen to open a supermax container? That’s not going to be easy.” Tamitt sighed. But Araeya had a better idea.

“I’m going back up to Cayde. He might be able to do the convincing,” she said, “you stay put. I’ll be right back.” Araeya got up and ran back up the corridor, careful not to be seen and Tamitt just sat, cross-legged, behind the Cabal gear.

Back at the control room, Cayde had bored Variks out of his tiny mind as he sat with his head in his two metal arms. Araeya crawled right up to Cayde and sat behind more barrels of ether next to the control room. She tugged at Cayde’s trousers and he jumped.

“What startle the Cayde-6...? Variks asked sitting up and staring at him.

“Must be the wind. You’ve got quite the breeze coming through. Let me just check my laces are done up properly,” he said, sheepishly and bent down to his shoes, not making eye contact with Araeya. “Not a very covert way of doing things, now, is it?” he whispered.

“Well it’s not like I planned to make my mentor shit himself, is it? Anyway, supermax is protected by blast doors – no locks. Thought it’d be the control room,” she said.

“Blast doors? They were never there when I last came down. Innnnteresting...” Cayde sat for a minute and then stood up. “Hang fire a sec.” He turned to Variks again. “Hey, so I heard you put in some blast doors down at supermax?”

“Hmm...why does Cayde-6 know this...?” he asked suspiciously.

“I’ve told you this a thousand times, bug, Petra tells me everything...almost everything. So, how come?

Variks thought for a moment. “Awoken Lightbearer cast super...yesss...she obliterated Paladins trying to escape...yesss. We fitted collar to her to stop super...then new doors to supermax...yesss,” he said eventually. Araeya was shaken up as she remembered what happened earlier in the morning when Kallori cast her Chaos Reach on the soldiers behind her. Knowing that she had done it again brought fear as she realised that when it came to judgement tomorrow morning, she would not be favoured. She panicked.

“So, are those controlled from here, then?” Cayde asked.

“Yesss...safest place...” Variks replied.

“Can I see? I think I should know this in case you’re ever...elsewhere and we need to bring in the usual suspects...” Variks looked at him in shock, but realised he made a good point and showed him the control system that operates the new supermax blast doors. Araeya sat patiently waiting for her chance to go back down to the decks and run in to help Kallori, but she needed to make sure that Variks wouldn’t close the doors before she got down there. Cayde snuck behind Variks carefully as he showed him the codes to access the doors and, before anyone had any time to respond, Cayde whipped out his Ace of Spades and walloped him round the head with the handle – enough to render him unconscious, but not for long.

“Was that necessary?” Araeya asked, emerging from the barrels of ether. Cayde shrugged.

“Probably not, but if you had any idea how long I’d been wanting to do that, you’d let me have this one,” he said, giving Araeya the side-eye. They both hurried back down the corridors onto the lower decks where Araeya had left Tamitt. He wasn’t there.

“Has he already gone inside?” Araeya asked.

“I dunno, but we should be looking out for the Techeuns over there...” Cayde responded, tugging at Araeya’s arm. She dropped a smoke pellet and turned them both invisible as they ran into supermax before the doors closed once more. Once they were inside, there was little lighting and so they found it difficult to see, but at the side of the room, next to cryo-pod containers, was a cell lined with bars and at the back of it, an Awoken female.

Kallori was chained to the wall, arms clamped together, elevated above her head and she knelt on the floor, bruised, head hung in shame. Araeya raced to the bars and clung to them tightly as she saw Kallori in the mess she was. Cayde hung back in shock and gave Araeya some space.

“Kal! Can you hear me? Talk to me!” Araeya shouted. Kallori slowly lifted her head. She was weak and she wore a suppression collar around her neck.

“Araeya?” she said faintly, “Why are you here?”

“We came for you! You didn’t think I’d just leave you, did you?” As Araeya spoke, Kallori lifted her head some more and made eye contact with Cayde at the back.

“You got Cayde to help you?” she asked, surprised.

“And Tamitt, Rexus and Yarus. We all came for you!”

“Where are they all?” Kallori was confused.

“We left Yarus and Rexus on scout duty back on the Reef, but we lost Tamitt about 20 minutes ago. I haven’t seen him...” Araeya hung her head. She sighed as she wondered where he’d gone. Cayde tapped her on the shoulder.

“I’ll give you two a moment,” he said, “I’ll wait outside.”

One moment seemingly stood for hours as Araeya and Kallori looked at each other dead in the eyes. Araeya had never seen a Warlock as powerful and as courageous as Kallori brought down to her knees in such a discouraging, shameful way. She seethed with fury at what the Awoken Queen had reduced her to. How she longed to hold Kallori to tell her that everything was going to be alright, that she was going to get her out and prove to Zavala that, for once in his pathetic life, he was wrong. Neither of them said a word, but as they exchanged glances, they could read each other like books.

“Everything that happened this morning,” Kallori began, “did you mean it?”

Araeya opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. She sighed and tried again, this time, with more sincerity. “Yes,” she finally said. She didn’t know why it was so difficult to express her emotions because they were as true as the Traveler's Light and she was not afraid to deny that. Especially not now. Kallori smiled and Araeya could see her joy from underneath her bruises. They both relaxed for the first time all day.

Their reunification was interrupted by the blast doors reopening and Araeya darted behind one of the cryo-pods. Three Awoken Techeuns strolled in, accompanied by Variks, the Loyal. Cayde was nowhere to be seen. They opened the cell door and picked Kallori up, unlocking her restraints and dragging her up to the surface – presumably to the Queen’s Court. They hadn’t noticed Araeya in the back of the room – or so she thought.

Araeya was about to ambush the Techeuns and run away with Kallori when something dropped onto her, causing her to land hard on the floor below. She blacked out after hitting her head hard on something.


	5. Incarceration

When Araeya came to, she found herself knelt on the floor at the feet of Mara Sov – the Awoken Queen, hands bound behind her back. Behind Mara, knelt Kallori in mirror position, prepared for Judgement. To her left – Rexus-5. To her right – Yarus. All of them had been busted and captured, but there was still no sign of Tamitt and Cayde. Araeya looked up at Mara, eyeing her very carefully, sneering at the face of her monarch. Mara smirked and turned to face Kallori. Kallori was too weak to look up, and upon further study, Araeya had seen that her collection of bruises had grown. Kallori had attempted to fight hers and Araeya’s captors hours prior to their current position, but given her current state, it didn’t go to plan.

“That’s not all of them, is it, Sedia?” Asked Mara as she studied her audience.

“Not exactly. The Cayde-6 that Petra is most fond of is still unaccounted for,” Sedia said as she walked in front of them all, looking at each and every one of them in a judging manner. When Araeya’s sight had adjusted, she could see Petra stood at the far back of the room behind Kallori with her arms folded, leant against the wall.

“I had no idea that Cayde would abuse the trust I had given him. He should have come to me first,” she said, shaking her head. Mara looked as though she was about to respond, but Araeya interrupted and dived in first.

“Maybe he would have done had you not betrayed him, first,” she said, stubbornly – her voice firm, but not loud. Mara also folded her arms as she turned back around and walked towards Araeya. She knelt in front of her and removed the bandages from her bullet wound the previous morning. Araeya winced at the pain as her wound was still bleeding and itching. Mara pinched her wound and Araeya screamed, causing Kallori to panic.

“What are you doing to her?” Kallori attempted to shout but mustered only a stern silence.

“Showing you all who betrayed whom, here,” Mara replied. Once Araeya had stopped screaming, Mara pulled out the ‘bullet’ from her shoulder, her fingers dripping with Araeya’s blood. It shone red as if it were receiving a signal. Mara held it up to Araeya’s face which was damp from tears. She stared at her. “My Paladins are never armed with mere bullets, Hunter. They always have a use. What we have, here, is a tracking bullet. It was supposed to tag Kallori over there in case the plan went to waste and we had to track her down again, but you got in the way so we tagged you instead. I’ll be honest, we were going to turn it off, but after Petra explained your connection to Kallori, we decided to keep it on. We knew the moment you left the City. I’ll admit, you surprised us when we saw there was more than one of you, but it gave us a fighting chance at stopping you in your tracks. Hunters are awfully predictable these days...” Mara paused and stood up, “I’m proud to have an Awoken Guardian like you. Zavala was right about one thing – you are relentless.” She smiled as Petra began binding Araeya’s wound again. Araeya refused to acknowledge Petra as she whispered in her ear.

“When I asked for your ship to be on lockdown, this was why...” she stood up again and walked away. Rexus and Yarus looked at each other passed Araeya as she hung her head in shame. The itch she was getting from the ‘bullet’ was every time someone was monitoring her moves. There was only one person who would be tasked with that job and she turned to look at Variks, sat on a chair next to the door. They glared at each other for what felt like hours, burning each other up inside.

Mara interrupted their staring by beginning the judgement process – but it was not without surprise.

“Kallori was arrested yesterday morning for failure to uphold the Awoken values,” began Sedia, “her recklessness and carelessness is something that needs to be put to a stop, however, a punishment must be served of the highest order.”

Kallori’s eyes widened in fear and her body begun shaking. Araeya felt her fear from across the room and turned to look at Yarus.

“What’s going to happen to her?” she whispered. Yarus closed his eyes and turned away.

“I don’t know, Araeya. But where’s Cayde and Tamitt? Did you lose them?” Araeya also closed her eyes. Everything that was happening now was her fault.

Shuro Chi stepped in. “By order of the Awoken Queen, the Titan Vanguard and the Warlock Praxic Order, we hereby charge Kallori today-” Shuro Chi was interrupted by the arrival of Kalli accompanied by two Awoken Paladins and another prisoner.

“Apologies for the interruption, but we have another guest who I think should sit for judgement as well,” and she parted the way and pushed the prisoner to the floor, hands bound in front of him.

“Cayde!” shouted Petra from behind Kallori.

“Hey everyone! So, it turns out there was a Techeun in the control room instead of Variks...who is sat...over there...” Cayde looked around confused, noticing everyone else’s positions as they all knelt before Mara, all bound and powerless. “Oh,” he said. Everyone looked at him and Araeya shook her head. Petra walked up to Cayde to untie him. Kalli stopped her.

“He needs to be judged too, but in a different environment. Zavala needs to know about this,” she said.

“Cayde is my partner. I will decide where to go from here,” Petra said in return, continuing as she was and Cayde stood up, snatching his Ace of Spades from the Paladins’ hands.

“It’s a good thing I’ve got you on my side,” Cayde said exasperated. Petra shook her head and grabbed his shoulder.

“You and I need to have a word when this is over,” she said.

“Good. Gives me a moment to cause a little mayhem,” Cayde replied with a smirk.

“What?”

“Tamitt! Now!” With that, Tamitt cast Thundercrash into the Courtroom, blinding everyone and both him and Cayde got to untying the Guardians in the front of the room. All three of them stood up and Araeya ran towards Kallori but Petra jumped onto her.

“If you value her life, you will let me walk out of here with her right now and you will return to the Tower with Cayde and your Titan friends and never speak a word of this or the Queen will come for you next, understand?” Petra had Araeya pinned to the floor, arms out to the side and she struggled against the Queen’s Wrath’s weight.

“I don’t trust you. You won’t do what you think is right because you are too busy sucking up to a monarch who will only stand for what she wants. Kallori is reckless but that is who she is – she is defining herself. Why should Mara define who we are when she can’t even define who she is?” Araeya looked at Petra dead in the eyes as she fought against her strength. Like that morning, Petra was strong and would not let Araeya go until she agreed to her terms. On the other side of the room, Araeya could see the Titans battling the Paladins with their bare hands and Cayde trying to get to Kallori, but Mara standing in the way.

“I will only let you go if you let me walk out with Kallori right now. Otherwise you will be coming with me,” Petra repeated herself. Araeya did not back away – she continued to fight. “I will say this one more time – let me leave with her and you can go.” Cayde had noticed Araeya’s predicament and shouted across the room.

“Let her go, Petra! We will leave now. We will follow your orders. Then you and I can discuss the matter later. Do not do anything you will regret, PV!” Petra’s gaze never left Araeya’s and eventually, Araeya crumbled under the pressure.

“Alright, alright,” she said, and Petra released her arms. In doing so, Araeya seized the opportunity and grabbed her neck and pulled her in close. “You lay a hand on her; you’ll have me to answer to.” She stood up, grabbed Rexus by the arm and dragged him along with her. As they all leapt through the doors, Araeya stole one last look at Kallori as Petra picked her up off the floor.

“I’m coming back for you!” she shouted.

Everything settled. The Guardians jumped into their ships and headed back for the Tower and Mara and Petra sat with Variks and Kallori in the Courtroom. Mara was more than angry. She seethed with fury. In the moment, she slapped Kallori and leant into her face.

“Did you plan this?” she asked.

“Never,” came the reply through tears and a broken voice, even though her face was stern and confident. Mara glared at her as she backed away.

“Take her away. I don’t want to see her face anymore. I never would have considered this as much hassle as it has been – my Techeuns shaken up, my Paladins injured, my soldiers reduced, and my Queen’s Wrath labelled as a traitor.” As she spoke, Petra burned up inside.

“You told me during our discussion that this would be a simple situation. We go in, apprehend a Warlock, come back, pass judgment and go from there. None of the above went smoothly. Why is that?” she asked. Mara huffed.

“You think this is about the Warlock?!” she whirled around and pointed at Kallori; her eyes never left Petra. “I’m on about the Hunter Vanguard who has supposed to have been helping us these past few weeks. Only 3 of the 8 problems have been ‘sorted’ in that time because he would rather believe his own pet Guardian in the twisted tale that she told of our intentions.” With that, she stormed out of the Courtroom. The only people left were Variks, Petra and Sedia, and knelt in front of them – Kallori.

“Will Marakel pass Judgement another time...yesss?” Variks asked looking at Kallori.

“I don’t know, now,” Petra admitted, shaking her head. “She was supposed to have been charged with the highest order, which is banishment, but all the while she is under the enlistment of the Praxic Order Warlocks, banishment is not an option and instead the punishment must be reduced to mere service sentencing. But after all this – everything that has happened over the last two days – I think it’s punishment enough. Look at her...” and all three of them looked upon Kallori in front of them and studied her bruising, her scars and the tears as they fell to the floor. This strong, independent Warlock was reduced to her core as she crumbled from her own strength. She, too, regretted everything that had happened over the last couple of days and she knew she should have listened to Tamitt when he first spoke of Mara’s will. The shame she felt was like nothing she had ever experienced, and it all went back to yesterday morning in the clearing when Araeya took a bullet for her. That one bullet changed everything.

Meanwhile in orbit, the Guardians hadn’t returned to the City immediately, but they pondered over the comms units what had happened and what should happen next. Araeya sat at the back of Cayde’s ship and said nothing.

“So, Tamitt, where did you wander off to? Cayde said you weren’t where you were left?” asked Yarus. It was the only topic of conversation that anyone was interested in, since he abandoned his post until last minute in the Courtroom. Tamitt chuckled.

“So, Araeya asked me to sit behind some Cabal gear in the supermax wing while she went to find a way to deal with the blast doors, only it felt like she’d been gone a while and the Paladins were roaming around the place, practically swarming the area. I guess now we know why since Araeya’s bullet wound contained a tracking modulator, but at the time, I just thought judgement hour neared. Anyway, behind me was a trap door that led to the blast doors, but on the other side of the wing, so I hid in there. I watched Cayde and Araeya walk into supermax, but only saw Cayde come out on his own, so I grabbed him and pulled him into the passageway. We waited there for Araeya to come out with Kallori, but obviously that’s where it went pear-shaped.” Tamitt explained. It turned out that Cayde knew a bit more about the Courtroom than anyone had expected and that’s when they forged the plan to ‘attack’ and create a stir in the hopes of breaking Kallori out.

“It was a glorious moment, wasn’t it, lads? Very exciting. Most fun I’ve had in a long time!” Cayde said, clapping his hands, eyes beaming. He turned to look at Araeya who had her back against him, arms wrapped around her legs and head buried in her knees. He sighed.

“We still didn’t get what we came for, though. Our best friend is still in there,” Rexus said, his voice lowered.

“We’ll sort it, don’t worry,” Cayde attempted to reassure the Titan.

“You never mentioned how you got yourself caught, though, Cayde,” said Yarus, changing the subject.

“It was quite simple. Once Variks had come around after his...ordeal, I admitted to being the one who put him in that position and he called Kalli, practically telling her I attempted to murder him, and I ran. It took ‘em ages to catch me!” he laughed. He turned to Araeya again. She hadn’t moved. “Hold on a second, guys,” he said, muting the mic and getting up from his seat. He crouched next to Araeya and wrapped his arm around her back. “I’ll admit it,” he said, “I’m not the best person in the world to comfort someone. Us Exos aren’t all built with fat room for emotions, but I’m not completely useless.” Araeya looked up.

“You don’t understand, do you?” She said, her voice breaking. “The girl I love has been tormented. She has been reduced from a powerful woman to a crumbling mess. You saw what she looked like and that’s _after_ Petra promised she wouldn’t get hurt...” she couldn’t continue. She placed her head back in her knees and Cayde stood up, speechless. He didn’t know what to do. Gawking at his protégé, he tried his best to think about what to do, but to no surprise, he was out of ideas short of blowing up the Prison.

“Hey, Cayde! What do we do now?” shouted Rexus over the comms. Cayde turned his mic back on but remained silent. After a long pause, Araeya spoke up from the back.

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We are going back to the Tower to face the music. By now, Zavala will have worked out I’ve broken lockdown protocol. He will know that Cayde was the one who took me out. He will know that you three came with us and he will want to know everything. So, we tell him everything. No details left out – including how we feel about it all, understand?” Araeya had stood her ground for the first time, all day and the boys all knew it. The left orbit around the Reef and headed back to the Tower, bracing themselves for the inevitable, Cayde bracing himself for Amanda’s response when he needed to clear the landing pad for his ship. It was a long ride back to the City.


	6. Trial

Back at the Reef, Petra, and Sedia still sat, pondering what to do with Kallori and whether they should ask Mara what she wanted. Variks had left a while ago to resume his post back at the Prison of Elders. The three Awoken ladies just sat in silence, Kallori refusing to acknowledge their presence. She was still weak, and she was still bound and shamed, although, they had removed the suppression collar from around her neck to ease the swelling around the bruises. She was too tired to worry about casting any supers in the meantime.

“We can’t just sit here and do nothing,” said Sedia, pacing up and down the Courtroom. “We have one Awoken prisoner – a Guardian, no less – a Queen’s Wrath with a potent friendship with the Guardians that has allowed it to get in the way of her job, and me; a Techeun tasked with dealing with aftermath of judgement, but instead is sat here in a pity party. None of the above know what to do.” Kallori looked up at Sedia, her expression blank.

“This is what this situation is to you?” she asked weakly. “I sit here,” she lifted her tied hands up in front of her, “like...this, and you are more bothered about the what than the why?” Both Petra and Sedia stopped what they were doing, stopped what they were thinking about and turned their attention to Kallori in front of them. Sedia sighed. Kallori continued.

“Everything that has happened up until this point is my fault, I’ll accept that...now. Blame me for the what in this situation. I’ll take it. But I blame Petra for the how. She took it upon herself to get extra people involved. I blame you, Sedia and your Techeuns, the Paladins and Mara, for the why. I have never had a problem with my life up until Mara decided I was in the wrong. You heard Araeya earlier. Awoken traditions are outdated. We aren’t the species we once were when we first came to this universe. We’ve had to adapt and change to the new world around us. You say we’re not violent people and that’s why you’ve never agreed with Awoken people being Guardians. But look at me, here and now,” she lifted her head into the light and her bruises shone brightly. Sedia hung her head in shame and Petra looked away. “Does this look like we aren’t violent people? Yes, I am reckless. I act like I don’t care, but the truth is, I would never hurt anyone on purpose. Those morals you spoke of? They can’t exist here. Not anymore. We should stand for what we believe our own morals should be, not what they used to be, and we will find our own ways of being Awoken.”

Both Petra and Sedia stood in silence. What Kallori had said took every meaning that Mara had ever pumped into the Awoken people and sucked it out, making way for a new meaning.

“Let me go, now,” Kallori finally added. Tears streamed down her face, but they were not tears of sadness, or fear, or anger. She was not proud of where she was or what she said, but relieved that the worst of it was over and she could save herself again. Petra stood up and walked towards Kallori and sat cross-legged in front of her and beckoned her to lay her arms in her hands. Tentatively, Kallori leaned forward and placed her hands in Petra’s and she began untying them, all the while Sedia begun pacing in the background again.

“We let her go, now...what’s Mara going to say to it all. As far as we know, she’s not finished, yet,” she said behind Petra. Kallori rubbed her wrists and sat more comfortably, more confidently.

“I say we tell her,” she said.

“Tell her what?” asked Sedia.

“What we’re doing now.” The three Awoken ladies got up and left the Courtroom to find Variks at the Prison of Elders, Kallori’s arm over Petra’s shoulder to help her through her injuries.

On arriving back at the Tower, Tamitt, Rexus and Yarus carefully exited their ships where they found Amanda waiting for their arrival alongside Ikora. Cayde and Araeya walked slowly behind them.

“Look, Amanda, Ikora, I know what you’re gonna say...” Cayde paused. “ _Technically_ you gave us permission to leave...” Ikora and Amanda looked at each other as Cayde gave a sheepish smile at them, tapping his toes on the floor, but Araeya stepped in and shook her head.

“Cayde...don’t,” she said.

“He is right though – I gave you all permission to leave. What I did _not_ do was give permission for him to leave with you, Araeya. You knew you weren’t supposed to leave, yet you did anyway,” Amanda exclaimed with her arms folded. Ikora raised her arm for silence.

“That is not the main problem,” she said, “we know what you’ve done in the Reef. Acts like that will not go unpunished and for that we will have all of you in this evening’s consensus meeting where we shall all determine what is to be done.” Ikora’s word was final and with that, they all hung their heads in shame as all their ships were grounded until further notice. Ikora proceeded to lecture them all as her Hidden handcuffed them with anti-transmat cuffs also suppressing any abilities they had – Cayde included. “Cayde...” Ikora said looking at him carefully. “Cayde, you understand you will be tried much harder than the rest of them, don’t you? You have abused your position as Hunter Vanguard – a high level of authority – and so we will not be lenient.” Cayde looked at Ikora in return, unfazed by her ‘threat.’

“What about the _reason_ we went to the Reef, Ikora? Are you going to do anything about that?” Cayde asked. Ikora shook her head.

“With Kallori under the watchful eye of the Praxic Order, there is nothing I can do from here, but they will be involved later for you to ask questions-” Ikora was interrupted by Araeya.

“ _Watchful?!”_ she exclaimed. “If they had their _watchful_ eye on Kal, none of this would have happened in the first place!” Araeya stepped closer to Ikora, practically face to face with her and continued. “We did something because no-one else would and _this_ is what we get for it? Was any of this necessary? No. Did Kal get arrested because you let her? Yes. Did the Queen see the need to arrest her because you didn’t intervene when you should have done? Yes! This can be brought right back to everyone here. Everything here could have been avoided had you just had patience and faith.” Ikora pushed Araeya away, slightly and proceeded to silence her with one remark;

“Do not let your feelings for her cloud your judgement – you know what she’s done.”

Araeya was confused. Kallori was reckless, but she would never purposefully hurt anyone...unless she was forced to. Whatever Mara wanted her for was major – she had to have done something prior to her arrest to give the Queen a warrant, but it wouldn’t have been of her own accord.

“Take them to the holding cells,” said Ikora with a wave of her hand. Amanda unfolded her arms as she realised how serious it all was and took pity on the four Guardians, patting their shoulders as they walked past her.

As they walked towards the cell elevator at the back of the Courtyard, they could all hear other Guardians whispering as they stared at them. Araeya looked up briefly to see who was about and who was looking at her as Skivay ran over.

“Are you okay? What happened? What have you done?” she asked breathlessly as she panicked. She clutched Araeya’s shoulder with her Titan grip, showing fear in her eyes as Araeya looked at her.

“I don’t have time to explain, but please don’t worry. I’ll tell you everything as soon as I get out,” she said. She said she’d get out, but given the mess she was in, she didn’t hold high hopes at all and only wished she hadn’t said anything. Like Petra, she was making promises she couldn’t keep. Cayde turned to look at Araeya, his face showing a lack of hope.

“What’s going to happen?” asked Skivay. Araeya shook her head and said nothing. She didn’t know. Without further conversation, they were all taken down to the holding cells and awaited the consensus meeting. Skivay’s boyfriend came up behind her and held her as she watched her best friend get put away. They were placed in individual cells not too far apart from each other, but they had never felt so alone. They all had plain sight of each other. They could all see how one another felt – how their faces varied, how their eyes dampened in the dim light and how their postures changed. They were not proud of how they got there, anymore. They did not stand as proud Guardians or proud Lightbearers or people who keep they Solar System safe. They were humiliated. Ashamed...afraid.

They sat restrained in silence. No-one had anything to say and no-one wanted to say anything – not even Cayde and his wisecracks could lighten the mood. That was when they all knew that things were serious.

A consensus was gathering in the meeting room only a matter of hours later. It consisted of Aunor Mahal of the Praxic Warlocks alongside other board members of the Praxic Order. Also gathering for the consensus judgement was Zavala and Ikora. Cayde’s seat was empty. Many civilians were also allowed in the meeting to give an open opinion and judge themselves, even if their points were invalid and would not sway the position of board members. Amanda Holliday was brought in as evidence to aid the judgement process and, as Hunter Vanguard, Cayde would be given open opportunity to defend himself where the others would defend themselves as and when the consensus allowed it. It also, however, meant that he would be tested harder since he was a member of authority.

It was a member of Ikora’s Hidden that escorted the five Guardians to the auditorium, their hands still tied in front of them. All of their weapons and gadgets had been removed and their Ghosts separated from them. They were on their own. Araeya not once lifted her head for the duration of general announcements and Tamitt and Yarus looked at each other and then to Rexus who looked unfazed by the ordeal. Cayde did not stand like his usual self and was instead ashamed. His body slouched. Zavala stood up.

“This is a call for judgement upon five Guardians – one of immense authority – based on their actions in the last two days. Overview starting with Tamitt – an Awoken Titan. Tamitt has breached City order by aiding the other four Guardians in an assault on City alliances based on inaccurate evidence. His sentence will be minor, however; he was the first to push for backup from the other two Titans and so his sentence will reflect this. Rexus-5 – an Exo Titan. Rexus has breached City order by aiding the other four Guardians in an assault on City alliances based on inaccurate evidence. His sentence will be minor. Yarus – a Human Titan. Yarus has breached City order by aiding the other four Guardians in an assault on City alliances based on inaccurate evidence. His sentence will be minor. Araeya – an Awoken Hunter. Araeya has breached City order by starting the assault on City alliances based on inaccurate evidence and false accusations. She has also breached the Hunter Way by involving a member of authority in a violating scheme in a biased manner, however without an acting unbiased Hunter Vanguard member on the board, no decision can come of this yet and so this will result in a suspended sentence. Araeya has also breached Guardian code by obstructing justice in action resulting in many unavoidable deaths and injuries to a third-party alliance, followed by action to prevent the apprehension of an important target. Her sentence will reflect her actions...” Araeya looked up at Cayde, her eyes glinting in the light as they welled up with tears. Cayde looked back at her in pity, but also in fear as his judgement was to follow.

“Cayde-6 – our Exo Hunter Vanguard...” Zavala paused and took a deep breath. “Cayde has breached City order by aiding four Guardians in an assault on City alliances based on inaccurate evidence. He has also breach Vanguard order by partaking in said assault without seeking council with his fellow Vanguard members before acting on impulse. He has also breached Vanguard order by not following the correct protocol in response to fellow Hunter – Araeya – when she first approached the situation with him. As Vanguard, his punishment will be most severe unless justification can be brought to light. All sentences are hereby suspended until a full account can be brought to our attention and a full decision can be made. We will consider any past offences, behaviours and tendencies and weigh them up in conclusion. End of overview.” Zavala sat down and looked at his pad in front of him and Ikora looked at him, despite his lack of attention on her. He acknowledged her stare and closed his eyes. “What, Ikora?”

“Nothing, Zavala,” she sighed. “You don’t have to be this harsh if it’s not what you feel is right.”

“Ikora. What has happened is unacceptable and if we let this slide, who’s to say this sort of thing won’t happen again. Who’s to say this ordeal won’t bring out a war with the Awoken – a war we cannot afford?” He looked down again and Ikora sighed and looked at the five Guardians in front of him.

“They’re good people, Zavala. Good people make bad decisions, too...we all do.” Ikora sighed and Zavala ignored her. She faced the apprehended Guardians and upon catching eye contact with Cayde, she’d realised the extent of the severity of the situation. Her eyes darted away and Cayde stood shocked.

“Aunor will proceed to give evidence against the Guardians and interrogate them on their thought process in making the decisions that were made. Aunor, if you will...” Zavala gestured to Aunor Mahal as she stood up and made her way to the front of the table.

“Ladies, Gents, this is not a court. We are not here to arrest you, charge you or give you life sentences etc. but instead we need to understand what your endgame was in your decisions as well as make you understand why we see them as wrong.” Aunor was kind and timid unless she was provoked. She was easily angered and determined, and nothing could get in her way as long as she could see her goal. Nevertheless, she proceeded with judgement, starting with Rexus-5.

“Rexus-5. You weren’t included in any of this until Tamitt came to you, am I right?” Rexus stepped forward and nodded his head. “Did you know about Warlock Kallori’s predicaments at that time?”

“No. I was eating by the ramen shop waiting for her to finish with Ikora that morning so that we could all go out and have fun somewhere.” Rexus was nervous. He was clueless at the best of times, but this made him all the more so. Aunor nodded her head.

“So, you knew nothing of anything prior to Tamitt coming to you that afternoon?” Rexus shook his head. “We will come back to you. Is there anything you’d like to add before we proceed? You shall have a defense before a conclusion is made, but I ask now if you would like to say anything.” Once again, Rexus shook his head. He was quieter than usual. “Then, Zavala I would like to move on to Yarus...”

Zavala raised his hand. “Proceed,” he said. Both Ikora and Zavala sat very still and very quiet...very cautious. Amanda sat behind them, her head in her hands. Yarus stepped forward, his head lowered.

“Yarus. You weren’t included in any of this until Tamitt came to you, am I right?”

“Yes, Aunor,” Yarus responded, quietly.

“Did you know about Warlock Kallori’s predicaments at that time?” Aunor asked. Yarus looked up and thought for a second.

“I knew she pushed boundaries that shouldn’t have been, but I didn’t know how much trouble she would be in for doing so,” he said as he looked over to his side where Araeya and Cayde were stood. They looked back at him. Aunor nodded her head slowly.

“Could you tell me your thought process when Tamitt came to you with the news?”

“There wasn’t one. I panicked and followed him back to the Hangar where Cayde and Araeya were. I didn’t know any details at the time other than Kallori was arrested by Petra Venj and she shouldn’t have been. I wanted to get her back by all means necessary-” Yarus stopped abruptly as he realised, he was getting angry. Aunor’s head shot up and she stroked her chin.

“You don’t think Kallori should have been arrested by the Awoken Queen?” she asked.

“No. She hadn’t done anything worthy of it!” Yarus was losing his temper. If he wasn’t careful, he would end up getting himself into more trouble than he already was.

“And you say, ‘by all means necessary.’ Are you aware of the consequences to the actions you took today?” Aunor was a patient Warlock. Cayde stepped forward.

“Open defense,” he stated, “when we said ‘by all means necessary,’ starting a potential war was not an action we planned, but an action that became necessary after we were falsely imprisoned by the Awoken Queen...” he paused and looked at Zavala. “Do you seriously think we could start a war on purpose?” he asked as he gave a somewhat crude smile in the hopes of lightening up the mood. It didn’t work. Aunor nodded her head some more and then gestured to Ikora to take note. She looked back at Yarus.

“We will come back to you. Is there anything you’d like to add before we proceed? You shall have a defense before a conclusion is made, but I ask now if you would like to say anything.” Yarus shook his head.

“Nothing else.” He said. Aunor acknowledged his response.

“Then, Zavala I would like to move on to Tamitt...”

Zavala raised his hand. “Proceed,” he said. The auditorium was silent. No one moved and no one said a word in between hearings. So far, there wasn’t cause to punish the two Titans that had already been interrogated as they were only guilty by association. But they were not done yet. Tamitt was the man who’d rounded everyone up to help, Araeya was the one who’d insisted something be done because she had witnessed something horrible and Cayde was the man with the plan and shouldn’t have been.

“Tamitt. You rounded both Yarus and Rexus-5 up when Araeya came to you with the news, am I right?” Tamitt stepped forward and nodded his head. “Could you tell me what your thought process was when Araeya came to you with the news?”

“She came back incredibly bruised and quite battered. She’d been shot in the shoulder and she’d been crying,” Araeya blushed as Tamitt continued, “but she came to me explaining that she’d heard me and Kallori that morning before Kallori was supposed to see Ikora and she said we were arguing over a letter that Kallori had received. It was from Mara and I tried to explain to her that it was important, but she wouldn’t listen and threw the paper away. Araeya had told me she found the paper and read it, so she had been filled in before she saw it all happen but said that she needed my help ‘fixing’ things and I didn’t give it a second thought. She told me everything she saw, and it angered me.” Tamitt looked at Araeya next to him and she looked away. She hadn’t told him everything and this would be where she would have to. Aunor looked puzzled.

“You believed every word?” she asked.

“Everything to do with Kallori getting arrested by Petra Venj, yes, and looking at her, even now, bruises don’t lie. Something happened during Kallori’s apprehension and I wanted justice for her.” Tamitt began losing his temper, also and Araeya just continued to glow in shame. Aunor tilted her head and studied Araeya.

“Do you not wonder how she got those bruises? Maybe she was in the wrong and was punished for it?” Araeya looked up straight at Aunor. She was stunned at her response.

“Araeya is – and always has been – one for righteousness. Zavala said it himself, she always fights for what’s right, so something must have been wrong during that time and she tried to stop it...right?” Tamitt backed off in confidence as Aunor’s question sank in. He didn’t really know what Araeya had seen, what she had done or why, so he was doing himself no favours. Cayde wanted to step in, but he didn’t have anything to say on the matter. Aunor gestured to Zavala to take note and he quickly got to scribbling it down.

“We will come back to you. Is there anything you’d like to add before we proceed? You shall have a defense before a conclusion is made, but I ask now if you would like to say anything.” Aunor asked to which Tamitt responded with a solemn shake of his head and he stepped back. She turned back around to Zavala. “Any preferences as to who’s next, sir?” she asked. Zavala took a moment before he answered.

“I want to interrogate Cayde. You may continue with your inquiries,” he said.

“Araeya. You were there when Warlock Kallori was apprehended by the Awoken. You obstructed the apprehension. You stood by while Kallori murdered Petra’s soldiers and injured the Paladins and you then sought to attack with a prison break before Awoken judgement commenced, am I right?” Aunor was tough on Araeya because she knew she could take it and she wanted all answers to come out at that very moment. Once the response was to come from Araeya, Tamitt was shocked and turned to Araeya, his eyes filled with nervousness. She knew he wasn’t ready to hear what would come next.

“Yes,” Araeya answered. “However, I feel it was wrong to argue Kallori murdered those soldiers.”

Aunor nodded. “I feel a whole recount needs to be made, here, since absolutely none of us were there and we expect you to tell the whole truth and nothing but.”

“Zavala was there,” Araeya started. “I know he saw the whole thing and he did nothing either!” Cayde’s eyes shot daggers at Zavala in anger.

“You realise you have made an accusation, Araeya. This will be investigated as well...” Aunor mentioned.

“Yes. I think it should, too. But if we’re going down that route, then I believe Petra needs to be here, too, to give us all a fighting chance,” Araeya suggested. Aunor moved back up to the board and whispered to Ikora to make sure that she had everything down and that this could go on for days.

“First things first, Araeya; give us a recount of your day up until you met with Cayde in the Hangar that afternoon.” Aunor sat down as she expected Araeya could be talking for a while – or she should since she had a lot of explaining to do. “In the meantime, Zavala is no longer allowed to make a judgement on your sentence until that side of the story is confirmed, however he will lead the judgement on Cayde and Tamitt,” she added. Zavala left the board and sat with Amanda. They were both now evidence on Araeya’s inquisition. Araeya took a deep breath and stepped forward, but not before catching Cayde’s eyes. He had faith in her.

“It actually started, the night before. I’d not long reported in after a Leviathan victory and I received a message from Petra Venj requesting my presence in the EDZ. She told me she’d been assigned a task to arrest Kallori the following morning and she wanted my help making sure it was quick, simple and easy. I wasn’t happy about it, but if it meant that my closest friend would potentially go unharmed, I couldn’t say no. So, I agreed.” Araeya paused and looked around the room. Tamitt was seething with fury and Rexus and Yarus both stood gobsmacked behind her. She lowered her head in shame.

“You knew?! You helped them arrest her? You could’ve stopped it all and instead you made it happen?!” Tamitt fought against his restraints as he raged. Ikora waved one of her Hidden to take him into a separate room to calm down. Aunor gestured for Araeya to carry on. Taking a moment to compose herself, Cayde reassuring her, she continued.

“My morning started with Tamitt and Kallori arguing outside my window. As Tamitt recalled earlier they were arguing over the reliability of the letter Kallori had got to which she responded by throwing it away. I recovered it to see that what Tamitt had said about Mara’s concern was true. Kallori had a meeting with Ikora that morning, so I waited for them to finish. The deal was that I take Kallori into the clearing in the Winding Cove and allow Petra to take charge from there, but she promised no one would get hurt, yet she intended to kill her to buy her time until her Ghost could revive her. I wasn’t about to let that happen. She signalled for the sniper shot and I got in the way. Kallori was so disappointed in me for betraying her that I needed to make up for it.” Araeya’s eyes welled up as Kallori’s words echoed through her head;

_‘I’ve never considered us close friends, Araeya, but I would have never put you down as a betrayer.’_

Aunor interrupted Araeya’s thoughts. “But you knew what she was like. You understood she’d crossed boundaries she shouldn’t have, and you knew she was reckless. So, I ask you; why did you try and obstruct justice?”

Araeya pondered for ages thinking of the best way of describing how she felt without sounding selfish. Aunor began tapping her toes. Araeya hadn’t realised how long she’d been thinking.

“I need an answer to continue, Araeya, otherwise, if you cannot justify your actions, we will have no choice but to render this investigation null and void...”

Araeya was struggling for an answer until Cayde placed his bound hands on her shoulder and nodded at her. “Just say it how it is, Araeya,” he said. Ikora frowned.

“No contact,” she said.

“Well?” Aunor was a patient woman, but she needed an answer. Araeya looked her dead in the eyes.

“I love her,” came the response.

The auditorium fell to a standstill. You could have heard a pin drop as everyone stared. All eyes were on Araeya. No one was sure how to respond. Aunor sat gawking while Rexus and Yarus’ jaws dropped and Cayde smirked. He’d known for a long time, but he was glad she’d said it. “I’ll continue for you. That sniper shot wasn’t just a bullet. Petra was determined not to take the bullet out and instead kept it wrapped up, but it itched all day. It wasn’t until Mara held us in her courtroom that she pulled it out and held it up to the light – it was a tracker. If I remember correctly, that’s a breach in trust among alliances is it not?” Araeya continued and this left Ikora looking over at Zavala and Aunor, pondering Araeya’s accusation.

“Araeya, you are making even more accusations in your statements. You are aware these will be investigated? You’re building quite the case file,” Ikora said, her chin in her palm. “We will have to return to this when we bring both you and Zavala to the stand first thing tomorrow morning. We will bring Amanda round later to see what she said upon your return when you were placed on lockdown, as you need to remember that your actions are completely unjustified in disobeying a lockdown order, but we need a statement and recount from both of you.”

Araeya sighed. Ikora was right. Everything she had said she had thrown the blame on others. What happened in the clearing; she blamed Petra. Following Kallori’s arrest; she blamed Zavala. In the Hangar; she blamed Amanda. During their capture, she blamed Mara. In all her righteousness, she was blinded by her own belief that everything that was going on was wrong and that she was the one to rectify it all. It was only standing in the auditorium listening to herself did she realise what she sounded like. She was ashamed.

“Open defense.” Cayde stepped forward and slightly in front of Araeya. “You guys are forgetting one tiny detail...” he paused while the board member exchanged confused glances. “For a motion to be carried – such as allowing the Awoken to arrest a Guardian – the consensus has to have zero objections, otherwise everyone has to defend their objections or favours or whatever, don’t they?” Cayde eyed Zavala specifically and very carefully as he finished his defense.

“Cayde. No one objected. That’s why the motion was carried,” Zavala stated, his elbows on the desk in front of him. He leant forward as he spoke.

“False!” shouted Cayde. “I was asleep; therefore, I did not agree.” He smirked. Araeya looked at him and then back to Rexus and Yarus next to her. They all shrugged their shoulders.

“He did mention this before which is why he wanted to help. I thought he was just being awkward...” Yarus whispered. He was quickly silenced by Aunor.

“Silence! You do not reserve the right for defense at this point.” Aunor then turned back to Cayde and paused for a moment before she responded. “He is right, Zavala. He did not favour the arrest, whether he objected or not. No favour was given and therefore we are in the wrong.” She stopped again and Zavala sat up. They stared at each other until Ikora interrupted.

“A full recount still needs to be established regardless of the outcome. A decision must be made regarding the severity of the accusations and all events that have taken place. For now, we must abandon our posts and collaborate. If the arrest went ahead under law, then we will continue as we are. However, if we decide the arrest was unlawful, we will need to take all of the above into account and consider an alternative judgement in a new light,” she said. The level of uncertainty rose as tensions built in the auditorium. No one knew what to say or what to do. Ikora’s Hidden returned Tamitt to the room and the situation was recapped for him.

“So, all this could have been avoided?” he asked eventually. No one knew how to respond and instead, everyone exchanged glances, hoping someone would work out what to do. It was at that point Petra waltzed into the room, Kallori still leaning on her shoulder. Araeya dropped to her knees.


	7. Internal Saviour

Back in the Dreaming City, Sedia had hunted Mara down.

“Dearest Mara. Do you remember Sjur Eido?” she asked to get her attention. Mara whirled around a shot a stare so powerful, Sedia stepped back, but she did not regret her question.

“How dare you question my memory of Sjur! It is I that holds her legacy stronger than you ever will!” she said firmly. Sedia stepped towards Mara, slowly.

“Then do you remember what she stood for?” Sedia knew she was crossing the line into uncharted territory by questioning Mara, but to get her point across, it needed to be done. To her surprise, Mara’s response was not as stern nor as loud.

“She stood for something far greater than us – far greater than any of us could comprehend. The way she had with the other species was unfathomable. The love she had for all things Awoken and more...I was in awe of her every day. She stood for the highest level of righteousness – never less.” Mara knelt on the floor as she spoke. She hadn’t realised how she’d felt about Sjur for a long time. People rarely asked her about Sjur, and she often wondered if it was because they’d forgotten about her. Sjur Eido was the Queen’s Wrath long before Petra Venj – a time where the Awoken were still but a myth...a dream. Sedia looked at Mara with a content gaze.

“Do you still believe in what she stood for?” she asked as she sat cross-legged in front of Mara, their gazes fixed. Mara didn’t move a muscle as she pondered her response in silence. Eventually, she opened her mouth to speak.

“Times have changed, Sedia. We’ve moved on since Sjur and her memory – her legacy – will stand as it has always done-” Sedia interrupted.

“Then today is an example of going against the very thing she stood for. You can’t back out of this Mara. You held Guardians hostage – a Vanguard at that, too. What would Sjur say if she saw you today?” What Sedia had said made Mara sit up straight and question herself.

She had never considered how Sjur would feel if she were still there with her. She began to wonder if they would even be where they are if Sjur were still with them – would they still be in cohesion with the Guardians? What of the Battle for Saturn and the Taken War? She lowered her head in thought. Sedia was right – she had gone against the deal she made with Zavala all those years ago by holding the Guardians captive. She had intended on torturing Kallori to make her learn to respect the ways of the Awoken, only to find herself the biggest hypocrite. If she had gone through with her plan, she wouldn’t have been able to come back from it in the eyes of the Awoken people. Zavala had given her permission to arrest Kallori to teach her to back off from her recklessness, but he did not give her permission to go to said lengths. That was her decision entirely.

“Mara, something needs to be done here and sooner rather than later...” Sedia suggested. “Petra has taken Kallori back to the City to see what they can do, but ultimately, you’re the one who can put an end to this madness.” Mara didn’t say anything for a long time, and instead sat in silence.

“There is nothing more that I can do now. My job is done, Sedia, and it was done incorrectly. If the Warlock has returned to the City in no change of state, then she is out of my jurisdiction, now. I have failed the City. I tried to change this Warlock and it hasn’t worked...” she paused. Sedia looked at her, hopeful. “Sjur’s motions still sit in my mind. I hear her morals every day. But I don’t listen to her, anymore. I listen to my gut. My gut told me to aid the Earth-born in their attempt to prevent the spread of recklessness whose root cause started with a single Warlock – an Awoken no less and I couldn’t even finish that.” Mara’s expression didn’t change even slightly. She showed no remorse for her actions that day and she looked to have never intended to.

“You may have ‘failed’ the City with their goal, but you went to extra lengths – actions that shouldn’t have been taken. Those Guardians are unlikely to recover after the way you’ve treated them, and it went against City alliances. Sure, they shouldn’t have been here, so they are just as much in the wrong as you, so you have to make it right.” Sedia placed her hand on Mara’s knee and her eyes changed. She looked angry. Furious, even.

“You do not understand what I do, Sedia! Guardians can recover from anything they have nothing to fear! I have a people to protect and if that means I must go to extra lengths by interfering with the Guardians themselves to help them, then so be it! I will do whatever it takes to stop the Awoken name from being dragged through the dirt, do you understand?” Mara’s fury made Sedia jump and she stood up to leave. “No more shall be said on the matter, Sedia. I won’t hear another word.”

As Sedia left, her device pinged with a notification from Petra. They had made it into the City to find all the Guardians under trial and in a mess. Sedia stumbled as she walked. Her head pounded as she wondered what had been done.

In the meeting room, Kallori and Araeya’s gazes were locked. Petra let Kallori down onto the floor, slowly. The damage done to her legs during incapacitation was severe and only her Ghost could help, but her Ghost was still with Variks in the Reef – a minor detail they had forgotten about. As Petra stood back up, she looked at each board member in the eyes before she spoke. She thought about her words carefully.

“You are trialing these Guardians, Zavala?” she asked. Zavala cleared his throat.

“They ambushed a City ally, attempted a prison break, failed to abide by lockdown rules and abused authority, Petra Venj. Yes, we are trialing them.” Petra stood back, although her posture never changed. She hadn’t fully considered the extent that the Guardians had broken the rules.

“Then allow me as witness, evidence and defense. I was there from the beginning, as you know. I was there when I let them go in the courtroom and now, I am here, with – in your words – ‘the cause.’” She stepped aside and presented Kallori. Without hesitation, Zavala waved his hand.

“Take her down,” he said. With that, Araeya rushed to her feet and straight to Kallori’s side once more, just as she had done the previous morning. “Araeya, step away from the Warlock!” Zavala shouted.

“No!” she shouted back and turned to Kallori. With her hands still tied, she placed them on her face and made head contact. “You shouldn’t have come back. They want you more than ever, now,” she whispered with a broken voice. Kallori began crying, too.

“I needed to come back. I can’t let this happen to you. It’s not fair.” The two of them didn’t move as everyone looked on at them, Ikora’s Hidden making their way over to take Kallori down to the holding cells until the trial was over.

“But I can’t let you see me like this. None of this shouldn’t have happened and I will fix it, Kal. I will, I promise,” Araeya said as she pulled away to look into Kallori’s eyes. Kallori moved her hands to hold Araeya’s and she looked at them, bound. Tenderly, she cupped them in hers, soothing the pain from the restraints. Her skin was soft against Araeya’s and she felt whole for the first time in weeks.

“It’ll be over soon. You don’t have to promise anything to me. You’ve already put yourself through too much to save my poor excuse of a Guardian and you shouldn’t have to do any more. Petra is here to fix this, but I can’t say I don’t deserve what I get...” she paused as she looked at the two Hidden guards that were hovering over Araeya. “What will happen, will happen, but you have to remember that we won’t change. Nothing will.” One of the guards placed a hand on Araeya’s shoulder implying she should get up and the other went to grab Kallori’s arm to help her to her feet. As the guards walked Kallori to the door, something snapped inside of Araeya and she got angry. She bolted to the door only to be tripped up and grabbed by Petra on her way over.

“She’s right, none of this should have happened!” she shouted as Petra held her tightly. She struggled and fought but had forgotten how strong the Queen’s Wrath was. She pulled Petra to the floor and snatched her sidearm from her holster and held it to her head. Petra immediately stopped fighting and laid her hands out to the side as Araeya sat over her. “What have you done?” Araeya asked. “You brought her here to make sure she got what was coming to her, didn’t you? To make sure she didn’t miss out on her sentence?”

“Araeya! Stand down, now!” Ikora belted from the board table. Araeya turned her aim to Zavala.

“You were there! You watched it all unfold and yet you stood there idly and did nothing!”

“We will investigate this, Araeya, but please, calm down and we can get this finished and Kallori can be formally punished by our rules, not Mara’s,” Aunor said.

“Let me handle this,” Cayde said walking slowly towards where Araeya held Petra.

“Don’t try me, Cayde,” she said, shaking.

“I won’t. Just hear me out, okay? You and me? We’re partners. I don’t like seeing my Hunters in the mess you’re in now, but we can’t do anything to change it. We’re in this together. I get in a mess, you get in a mess and vice versa, got it? But this? This ain’t you. Where’s the fighting Araeya? The Hunter that gets the job done? The Hunter that gets my job done?” he chuckled. Araeya didn’t.

“She’s fighting for what’s right, that’s where she is,” she said angrily through gritted teeth.

“Fair play. But that’s not the way to do it. It’s my way to do it, sure, but not yours – you’re not that stupid-”

“Cayde! Step away!” Aunor shouted.

“Gimme a sec! I got this!” He turned back to Araeya who had now positioned the sidearm back against Petra’s head. “C’mon Araeya, this isn’t you. You’re not the dark and brooding nonsense that Eris was. Sure, you’re not energetic either, but you’re sensible, efficient – you get the job done no questions asked,” Cayde said as he tried to approach Araeya.

“So, if I’m efficient and I get the job done, and I can’t kill the person who started this mess, then I can kill the next best thing? Is that right? I mean, what are you gonna do? Kill me?” Araeya gestured to Petra and begun shaking even more. Cayde was right – this wasn’t her and they didn’t know what to do or what had happened to make her so angry, so jumpy and so violent.

“Haha! No, Araeya. You can’t. Not this time, anyway.” Cayde took bigger strides in his steps in the hope of getting closer to her quicker, without alarming her or possibly provoking a reaction. “You ever heard of Sjur Eido?” he asked. Araeya shook her head. “She was the Queen’s Wrath before Petra, okay. You know who killed her?” Araeya shook her head again. “The IX. Mara would have started a war if she thought she could. What I’m sayin’ is, if you kill Petra, Mara is gonna lose her shit and you know who’s first on the list? Kallori – as revenge. Now we’ve gone to a heck of a lot of trouble to get her back and for what? You to lose her again?” He had gotten close enough to her to kneel next to her. “No. You don’t want that and quite frankly, as much as I hate Warlocks – apologies Ikora, Aunor – I don’t either. But this isn’t gonna solve anything. If anything, it’s gonna give me more paperwork...” he smiled and chuckled to himself and Araeya lowered the gun. Cayde gestured to give it to him and she slowly handed it to him. He threw it aside and helped Araeya back to her feet. She broke down.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t-” she couldn’t finish what she wanted to say.

“Never mind. Let’s just get this trial over and see what happens because I’m freaking starving.” The two Hunters made their way back to the podiums as Petra pulled herself back up off the floor and grabbed her sidearm. As she picked it up, she thought for a second and aimed it at Araeya’s back. She wanted to punish her for her attempt on her life, but she thought better. She trusted Araeya with her life and she knew she wouldn’t kill her, but the fact that it came so close shook her up a little.

Petra had regrets about the whole ordeal regarding the Awoken and the Guardians. She never should have gotten Araeya involved, but at the same time, she wished she had questioned Mara’s true intentions before she ordered the incapacitation as this would have saved a lot of time and, quite possibly, many lives.


	8. Far From Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the trial still ongoing, tensions rise when Mara is still nowhere to be found, Rexus-5 and Yarus get let off lightly and Tamitt doesn't take well to his punishment, blaming Araeya for it all

She looked upon the five Guardians as they repositioned themselves, making their way back to the stand for the remainder of their trial. She wondered how she had allowed it to get so far out of hand and so quickly.

The trial continued for hours as Ikora, Zavala and Aunor worked their way through the Guardians, starting from Rexus, moving to Yarus and slowing down at Tamitt. Rexus and Yarus were let off with basic Sherpa duty for two weeks with Kinderguardians on their teams, and they had a curfew to keep an eye on them for a month. They were less than pleased, to say the least, but they figured the other three had worse problems to deal with.

Rexus and Yarus were escorted from the consensus hall only to be greeted by Skivay and Tyrell who were waiting outside.

“What’s going on in there?” Skivay asked. “Last we saw you all, you were carried to the holding cells. What’s happening, now?”

Yarus and Rexus looked at one another, unsure of how to answer. After a moment of thought, Rexus was only too honest.

“We were arrested and trialled, basically. They said it’s not a court, but it was more court-y than an actual court-” Yarus cut him off before he blew it all out of proportion.

“We were let off lightly over the whole Queen of the Reef debacle, but I don’t think they’ll let Tamitt off as lightly and Araeya has accused Zavala of treason, so that’s put her in an awkward position and Cayde is…well, Cayde. Being Hunter Vanguard, they won’t go easy on him.

Tyrell nodded his head, looking at his feet.

“What exactly happened?” he asked.

Yarus looked between Tyrell and Skivay and leaned in and lowered his voice.

“If you see Kallori about, you’ll have to ask her. But, if I were you, I’d choose your words carefully.”

Skivay looked at Tyrell, fear washing across her face.

“I haven’t seen her for a couple of days…”

“I’m not surprised,” Yarus said, bluntly before trundling off across the courtyard.

“Tamitt,” Aunor began again. “You’re the person, here, that has their head screwed on the tightest. We had hoped that you would be the voice of reason amongst all this and would have, at least, stepped back once you knew what you were getting into.”

Tamitt nodded his head in shame and sighted Araeya with her head also drooped. Petra looked at the remaining three Guardians with her arms folded, leant against the wall. She knew from the start that bringing Araeya into things was a bad idea. She knew her connection to Kallori was strong, but she had never anticipated just how strong. She never anticipated that very connection strength would withstand the Awoken force and then some.

Petra silently tutted to herself and scuffed the heel of her boot on the laminate floor. No matter what she could say or do, Araeya would forever pin this on herself and how she thought that would ruin her and Kallori’s relationship. Petra saw something in the two of them that she had never seen in any other Awoken pair. Not since Sjur and Mara.

Ikora and Aunor looked at one another and Aunor sighed, preparing to deliver Tamitt’s sentence.

“Tamitt, I have no other choice but to have you suspended from duty until further notice.” Aunor raised her hand already set to interrupt Tamitt as he desperately tried to defend himself, panicking as he stood before the Consensus. “You will _also_ be confined to the Tower until we deem it appropriate to trust you again.”

Petra threw her head back and turned to lean against the wall – another Guardian out of commission for something _she_ caused.

Tamitt mirrored Petra’s movements as he put his hands to his head as he threw it back. He turned to Araeya.

“I get it now. Nothing will ever be enough for you,” he hissed through gritted teeth as he was escorted out of the room. Araeya looked away and Cayde caught sight of her face as she closed her eyes.

He was saddened by her despair.

Once Tamitt was out of the hall, only Cayde and Araeya remained left to be judged, however, things were about to get serious as Zavala would join them to justify his actions – or lack thereof – during the incarceration and Petra would hopefully have Mara put this all to rest by the time they reached Cayde. The only problem was that Sedia hadn’t gotten back to her yet, meaning she hadn’t gotten through to Mara.

Outside the Consensus room, Tyrell and Skivay were stood wondering what was going on as Tamitt was escorted out and his handcuffs were removed. As he rubbed his wrists, Skivay placed a hand on his shoulder.

He maliciously shrugged it off and scowled at her.

“Your friends are more trouble than they’re worth. You know that, don’t you?” he said, clenching his jaw. Skivay stood back in shock and Tyrell got riled up.

“I still don’t know what’s going on here, but you obviously don’t mean that because you decided to get involved in the first place. You must have thought they were worth your time and energy. You could have walked away from whatever this is at any point and you didn’t…”

Tamitt sighed and his body dropped. “Sorry. I…” He stopped himself as nothing he would say would change the situation. “I just didn’t expect to be punished in such a way for doing what I thought was right.”

Tyrell patted him on the back. “You did good, Titan. All will be well.”

Tamitt let himself smile a little bit. Maybe he was overreacting.

“Is Araeya still in there?” Skivay asked.

Tamitt nodded. “And Cayde, too. They’re going to get it bad…”


	9. Tap Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sedia is still on a mission to get Mara to confess her wrongdoings when she held the Guardians against their will, but she had already struck Mara's first weak spot with Sjur and it failed. This time, she brings up someone else Mara would give anything for...

Back at the Dreaming City, Sedia had been keeping an eye on Mara from afar after she stormed off following their previous disagreement. She needed to find some way of getting her to admit that she was in the wrong to lay this issue to rest, but like Sjur, Mara was stubborn, and it would take more than conversation to get her to admit anything.

Sedia needed a new way to approach the situation that wasn’t going to make Mara harder to get to, and she needed it quickly.

She crept up behind her, keeping her distance. She wasn’t completely sure why she was hiding because she knew Mara would sense her – and she did.

“Sedia. I said I didn’t want to talk right now,” she said without turning around. Sedia stepped back and loosened her stance.

“Mara, please understand that there is much at stake and you are turning your back on our allies, letting them take the fall for something you know was wrong.” Sedia was assertive in her response and it was enough to get Mara to turn around.

“Sedia, please understand that things won’t change because I admit to _one_ aspect of this debacle out of thousands of little aspects.” Mara was snide and gritted her teeth, her body showing rage.

“Mara, please. What if this were Uldren?”

That was it. That was Sedia’s play – bring Uldren into things. Mara ceased everything and stood as a statue amongst the garden, shocked at Sedia’s absurdity.

“How dare you bring my brother into this! He had nothing to do with any of it-”

Sedia interrupted her. She was treading on thin ice, now.

“What if this were Uldren that you were trying to rescue? Or what if it was Uldren coming to recover you? What if all that transpired with us today was you and Uldren in that situation? What would you do?”

Mara thought for a moment, the silence stimulating. “My brother would do anything for me, you of all people must know that.”

“Okay,” Sedia began, perching on the edge of a tree trunk, “so, let’s say you are in the position those Guardians are in right now. You were arrested by the Vanguard and Uldren did everything he could to get you back, but the Vanguard held you and Uldren hostage until he made his escape. He’s now being tried by the Awoken of the Reef and you are gravely injured. I know that you both would give anything for the Vanguard to step forward and admit they were wrong in their actions and put this to rest so the Awoken would let him go… As would he...”

This made Mara incredibly still and silent as she thought long and hard about the situation that Sedia had brought before her. She had never thought of it in such a way and it put a perspective on it that she was previously blinded to.

“Mara?” Sedia said in an attempt to prompt the Awoken Queen.

“No, Sedia. I still stand by everything that I have done, as would they in their situation. I only wish I had picked someone else to handle the incarceration and _not_ get that Hunter involved.” Mara clenched her fists as she approached Sedia, who by now had stood from her perch. She still towered above the Awoken Queen, but never belittled her. She stood strong before Mara.

“Rethink this, Mara. The Vanguard will soon learn of your actions if they haven’t done so yet, and they will learn of your betrayal within this alliance. Could you stand firm if this were to drag on for years, when it needn’t drag at all?”

“I will take us to war, if we have to,” she replied, putting her foot down.

Sedia shook her head. “No, Mara. We cannot afford to go to war, and you know it. You will divide us further and for what? The sake of your pride? No, Mara. That isn’t you. We need the City more than they need us…”

“Sedia, why do you trouble me with something that is not of your concern?” Mara accused.

“I saw the look in that Warlock’s eyes – her pain. I saw the way the Hunter looked at her – longingly. I saw the way they looked at each other. It was something I have only seen in you and Sjur and I was hoping you’d come to realise that, what you’re doing to them, now, they could have just as easily done to you. Mara, please…”

Mara wasn’t having it. Sedia had backed her into a corner and she was not getting out the way she had hoped and, rather than face the music, she merely waved her hand as the conductor and waved Sedia off and hastily walked away.

Sedia stood in front of her perch, unsure of what to do. She had used her best material that she was so sure would sway Mara the way she needed to go, but alas it had not worked. She was left stumped and she had to somehow explain to Petra that things were about to get a whole lot more complicated.

“Petra?”

“Sedia?” crackled the response.

“Petra, how are things at the Tower?”

“Not good. It’s really not good…” Petra sounded solemn.

“It’s about to get worse. Mara isn’t coming…”

Both radios sat in utter silence as Petra pondered what she was supposed to do if Mara wasn’t going to help. There was no way she could get the Guardians out of their situation without Mara coming forward and admitting what she did to them. It would half the problem, but she knew it was a long shot anyway.

Now she had to sit and watch as her two favourite Guardians got an enormous punishment. She had no power to change anything.


	10. Last Drive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Cayde an Araeya the only two Guardians left on trial, the tone changes and Araeya becomes more impatient and agitated as Ikora and Aunor question Zavala, his arrogance pointed directly at Cayde. Aunor realises that they cannot keep the room civil and asks to be alone to question Zavala, and Petra sees that as an opportunity to right some wrongs

Cayde had already prepared himself for the monologue that was about to come, but Araeya had long tuned out from the situation. She would regularly glance at Petra – the reason she was in this mess – and see her leaning against the doorframe, wondering why she was even still here.

She should have just fired the bullet.

But then, would that help Kallori?

“I want to see her,” Araeya demanded, her voice not quite as stern as she’d hoped. Everyone, including Zavala, had turned to her in surprise.

“Araeya?” Ikora was concerned by Araeya’s sudden change in tone.

“I want to see her. I want to see her now.”

Ikora and Aunor exchanged looks before they both turned to Zavala who had averted their gaze.

“May we ask why Kallori is in such demand to you?”

“I want to see her. I want to know that she is okay without her Ghost, since I’m assuming you haven’t given him back to her, because Traveler forbid that she should find an end to her suffering.” She glared at the communion before her. “Also, I think Zavala should take more time to see what he has done.” Araeya turned to eye Zavala, examining his face for evidence of guilt.

Not to her surprise, there was none. He sat there blank as paper.

“Araeya, that’s not something we can do at this time. Kallori is being tended to as we speak, but for now, our focus must be to determine the extent of your actions – all of you.” Aunor began again. “You have accused Zavala of treason and that is one of the highest levels of accusation we’ve ever had and so we must keep our utmost focus-”

“Of course, because no-one should _ever_ accuse the Vanguard Commander of _anything_ , right?”

Ikora looked at Araeya in shock and Cayde smirked. “Buuurn…” he whispered behind her.

“Araeya! We cannot complete this properly if you do not cooperate. Please calm down and we can proceed.”

Araeya grumbled and stood back in her place, allowing their trial to continue.

“We’ll start with Zavala since he stands with the highest accusation. Cayde, you cannot say a _single_ word during his defence, understand?” Aunor spoke to Cayde in a condescending manner, making him feel small. He shrugged his shoulders.

“I already know what shall be asked and so I shall begin immediately,” Zavala stated. The jury did not object and allowed him to continue. “Mara approached us first, as you will remember, summoning all of us with news that she had identified a Guardian to have been terrorising areas of the Reef and occasionally in the Dreaming City and wanted to put a stop to it before they brought down the good name of the Awoken. It did not take much deliberation to determine which Guardian we were talking about and agreed that something should, indeed, be done to tone her temperaments down. After an hour’s discussion-”

“ _That’s it?!”_ Araeya interrupted. “An hour?!”

Aunor raised her hand to silence the Hunter and then gestured to Zavala to continue.

“As I was saying,” he cleared his throat. “After an hour’s discussion, if you remember, we determined that the best course of action was to put the task in the Queen’s hands and allow her to deal with the matter. From what I can recall, it _was_ a unanimous decision…” he glared at Cayde with fire, as if his Consensus nap spoiled his plans and Cayde huffed.

“But we have been brought to the attention that it was _not_ a unanimous decision, haven’t we?” Ikora prompted, also looking at Cayde.

“Look, the meeting was boring, my job is boring, Zavala is boring, and Mara is just monotone – you really can’t blame me for this one…”

“Perhaps the term ‘blame’ would be wrong, but you were the deciding factor and we overlooked it.” Ikora added, noting Zavala’s statement.

Zavala huffed as he slumped in his chair, frustrated at the fact that he was in the wrong because of the Hunter Vanguard’s incompetence and immaturity. He had a vision and it was blurred and obscured by someone else’s childish attitude. How was he supposed to maintain authority when someone like this would stand in his way?

Araeya looked up at Aunor as she sat pondering the turn of events. “What are you going to do about it?” she asked, pushing Aunor for an answer.

“That it not really your concern, right this moment, Araeya, for you, yourself, are in just as much of a pickle…”

Araeya growled. The more she stood in front of the Consensus being treated like a common criminal, the more she grew impatient and weary of the situation – the more she wished that she had ignored Petra’s call.

She looked over at Petra, still looking at the floor, leaning against the hall’s walls, arms folded. She scowled, even if Petra couldn’t see it.

"Ikora," Aunor whispered in Ikora's ear. "We cannot continue our questioning with this kind of tension. They will continue to bicker and argue and I cannot focus in such circumstances. Perhaps it may be time for an alternative."

Ikora nodded.

“We will need the room alone with Zavala for the moment,” she announced. “Cayde will be called in when we are ready, but the rest of you must wait outside the door.”

The two Hunters and Petra trundled off through the doors and waited outside.

All the while Ikora and Aunor continued to question Zavala, Cayde had his ears pressed against the door trying to make out what was being said, but the walls were thick, obscuring his hearing and he groaned irritably, shaking his head.

Petra looked at Araeya as she looked at the floor, and without warning, she grabbed her hands and started picking at the locks on the handcuffs.

“What are you doing?”

Petra grunted, puzzled. “I got you into this mess; I’m getting you out of it. Kallori is in the holding cells on the third cell on the right as you walk in. Only she knows where her Ghost is but see if you can get it to her.” She exclaimed as the cuffs fell to the floor and Araeya rubbed her hands and looked up at Petra.

She didn’t have time to say anything before Cayde had abruptly moved away from the door and pushed her out the way. “Go! They’re coming!”

Araeya didn’t look back as Aunor opened the door and immediately pulled her sidearm from her holster, commanding Petra and Cayde hold their hands in the air, shocked as she saw the Awoken Hunter bolt down the stairs.

Ikora escorted Cayde back inside and Aunor eyed Petra carefully, slowly lowering her sidearm.

Calmly, she lowered her voice. “The Queen; is she coming?”

Petra looked away and shook her head in despair. “She wants nothing more to do with this and I can understand her. This is a mess…”

“A mess that you have just made a little bit worse…”

Looking at Aunor as she escorted her back into the hall, Petra took a deep breath. “Araeya didn’t do anything I wouldn’t have done, and I was the one that asked her to do it. Let her go on this one. I’ll owe you.”

Aunor sighed. “Whatever she did on your orders, she still disobeyed ours. A war could’ve broken out with that attempted prison break-”

“True, but Mara knows she was just as much in the wrong as they were. The only difference is that Mara won’t feel the consequences like they will. She wants her hands wiped clean of this all. I’d suggest you do the same.”

“And forget that our Guardians thought it right to invade our allies in such a way? You are delusional, Petra. I won’t have it. I’ll see to it that they receive their necessary punishments.” Aunor nudged Petra slightly in front of her and carried on walking.

Petra only hoped that Araeya would help Kallori before she overstayed her welcome.


	11. One More Try

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Araeya makes it out to find Kallori in the holding cells only to be greeted by an angry mob on the way out. Aunor had come to a conclusion

Down in the holding cells, Araeya had already taken to trying to find Kallori. “Kal?” she whispered. “You still in here?”

After a moment, she started to hear a faint rustling coming from further in the room.

“Kallori?” she asked again.

A blue hand appeared from the right side of the room and waved her over. “The door…” came a raspy whisper. “The door is locked….”

Araeya scrambled over to the cell and immediately got Twink to scan and break the lock as she stared exasperated at Kallori, still battered from before.

Twink had barely gotten the door open before Araeya was in the cell on her knees before Kallori, her arms wrapped round her. Kallori clung as tight as she could to Araeya’s shoulders, tears streaming down their faces. This was as close as the two of them had gotten since Kallori was first arrested.

The kiss couldn’t wait. Araeya had spent almost years pining after this Warlock and finally got the courage to tell her how she felt. The only problem was that the timing was all wrong and it meant that feelings were raw, judgement was clouded, and their hearts were full. She was finally happy that she had gotten what she had always wanted, but she was only sorry about what it had led to.

Twink hovered awkwardly above the two Guardians as they slowly separated and pressed their heads together.

Holding her face, Araeya looked at Kallori closely, while Kallori studied Araeya’s bullet wound in her shoulder. “It hasn’t healed?” she asked, quietly.

Araeya took a second to look at it, herself. “I’ve been keeping it as evidence, for now,” she said, wiping away tears from Kallori’s cheeks with her thumb.

Kallori sighed and Araeya smiled. “Your Ghost,” she began. “Do you know where he is?”

“They moved him over to the back of the room in the anti-transmat cages over there,” she sniffed, pointing to the back wall where the anti-transmat cages sat. Araeya looked back at Kallori in shock. She smiled. “It was a precaution, so I didn’t ‘run away again,’ as they said.”

“They still could have tended to your wounds, nonetheless…” Araeya said, still looking Kallori up and down. “Your legs… They…”

Kallori cupped her hands around Araeya’s face, lifted it up and looked her dead in the eyes, still smiling. “You know me. Not much hurts, anymore. Just get Spark out and we’ll put this to rest.”

“Okay, but you’re coming with me,” Araeya said as she hosted Kallori up onto her feet, supporting her as she stood up.

“Spark, you little shit, give us a hand,” Kallori demanded as best she could. She was still weak and couldn’t muster much strength to shout at her stubborn Ghost, but he got the message, for he shone a light guiding the Guardians to his cage. Twink wasted no hesitation in busting him out. “Now do me a favour, yeah?” Kallori gestured to herself and Spark sighed.

The feeling that Kallori got from being healed for the first time in almost three days was exasperating – like being reborn anew with newfound strength and ire. She was ready for a fight, no matter what side of the law she was on. First order of business; show Araeya who was boss. She turned to the Hunter and squeezed her with all her new strength. She pinched her chin and stared into her golden eyes, bright with the challenge and stole a kiss.

“I think we owe the Consensus a visit, don’t you?” she asked.

Araeya smiled, eager to show them that everything up until this point could have been avoided if they got their head out of their asses and allowed Kallori to come to terms with her actions has she grew as a Guardian. In the grand scheme of things, she was still maturing as a Guardian and there was still much for learn. To some extent, the events of the past few days served their purpose – to teach her that she can’t continue the way she was – but it was all wrong. She will learn, but this kind of punishment – punishment gotten out of hand – wasn’t the way it should have gone.

Zavala could’ve insisted he handled things on his own, rather than getting the Awoken involved as well. No one need get hurt. But they did and there was no going back and Kallori would have to pay for it, but no more abuse.

Upon exiting the holding cells, Aunor, Zavala and some members of the Tower Guard awaited them at the door. It came as no surprise for the Guardians as they were playing with fire and treading on thin ice with every step they took.

Aunor unfolded her arms. “You two have got a million questions to answer before we outright exile you both,” she asserted.

Cayde pushed his way through the small crowd and insisted that they stop the trial. He told them that it all just had to stop. “Yes, the Warlock was in the wrong. Yes, we were also in the wrong for pursuing a jail break and yes, we were also all in the wrong with…everything that followed – the escape, the courtroom and…this bit,” he fumbled, “but believe me when I say we have definitely learnt our lessons, now…” Cayde’s tone trailed off towards the end as he may as well have been speaking to a brick wall, for Zavala moved not once during his mini monologue.

Aunor, however, unfolded her arms and pondered Cayde’s points. “I understand that the Awoken have taken things too far in their care, as evidently shown in both Araeya and Kallori, but that still doesn’t excuse everything that followed – _including_ what has just transpired, leaving us here.” She looked between all three Guardians and sighed. “Something still needs to be done about your actions, regardless of the circumstances.”

“Perhaps the Awoken Queen will be consultant to this?” Zavala suggested, Aunor and Kallori glaring at him together.

“We shall not consult the Awoken Queen any further following this problem. Cayde was right – it wasn’t a unanimous decision, and we were in the wrong. As were you. You should not have attended the incarceration site. Your presence is what started the resistance, and I think you know it. From now, we deal with this ourselves.” Aunor had made the Tower stand still by shattering the illusion that the Vanguard were perfect. From here on in, she was taking control and finally putting the situation to rest.

Only, they had a long way to go.


	12. Over and Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aunor makes her final decision and Zavala is less than happy. Accusations were flying until grounded, Cayde doesn't get what he wanted and no one got hurt. But how long until the events of this come to haunt them

Once everyone was back in the courtroom – or, the hall, as Aunor was insistant that this was not a court – Cayde, Araeya, Kallori and Zavala stood before the Praxic Warlocks, Rahool still taking notes and Amanda on the sidelines. This time, they were not wearing handcuffs.

Petra was still present for the hearing, but she was being watched for the trick she pulled to get Araeya out.

“Now that we’re all back on track and the Light has shed its details, we need to reiterate where we are,” Aunor began. Zavala’s stance had dropped since he no longer had so much authority over the situation. Even when Araeya had made her accusation, he still had a say in the matter. Now he did not. Aunor continued. “Tamitt, Yarus and Rexus-5 have all been given their punishments for being guilty by association. Cayde will serve a much steeper punishment as he is a member of the Vanguard and _should_ have known better and, with it now clear, as will Zavala. Araeya and Kallori will have their punishments served at a later date. I’m not one to go soft, but it has been made abundantly apparent that they have been punished already – by the Awoken. It will not go unanswered for the act of retaliation on Araeya’s part was against City Law, but for now…”

Cayde rolled his eyes and huffed. “It’s not like I _wanted_ to be on the Vanguard…”

To this, Zavala huffed. He was tired of hearing about Cayde moaning about being on the Vanguard. He knew what he was doing when he made the bet. But here we are…

“Yes, Cayde. This isn’t the first time that has been brought up.” Aunor said. “Nevertheless, you _are_ on the Vanguard and you will be treated as such – even if you don’t agree. At the end of the day, you were the one who could have put your foot down and told Araeya that she wasn’t to pursue this matter. Instead, you goaded into it and created the plan yourself.”

“Perhaps. Although did it not occur to you that, had I not offered my services, Araeya would have gone after Kallori on her own? Would she still be here right this moment?” Cayde was confident in his point, but after examining Aunor’s face, he wasn’t so sure.

“Perhaps. But had you not fallen asleep during the initial meeting _like a child,_ we would have known not to go ahead with allowing the Queen full control of the situation.”

“Can we move on from the meeting. There is nothing that can be done from there,” Ikora suggested. Aunor agreed and was about to move on when Petra interjected.

She was restless and shuffled about a lot but had a good point to make. “Blame the ensuing events on myself, Aunor. Mara made it my call as to what to do and I made the wrong one by getting Araeya involved in the first place,” she said. She turned to Araeya. “I am sorry I caused all of this, cousin.”

Araeya looked at Petra as she took Kallori’s hand in her own. “Thank you,” she said with a smile. “Not just for admitting your mistakes, but for making them. I’d never have told Kallori how I felt if I didn’t believe I only had one shot.”

Petra relaxed for the first time that day. With that, Aunor waved her off, telling her that she was no longer needed and to send a message to Mara, saying that the City will review the mess made by the Awoken in due course.

“A lot of people willing to admit their mistakes,” Aunor stated. She eyed Zavala and Cayde carefully. “You two have been acting like children since the beginning. For that, alone, I make Ikora acting Commander for a full term and Cayde is assigned to paperwork duty for the remainder of the season, required to attend _all_ Consensus meetings _consciously_. That means no dozing off.”

It was then that Zavala realised that he needed to take more pride in his job to help the Guardians, not force them to retaliate. The fact that Araeya had disobeyed him made him realise that he didn’t have the authority he thought he did, and the Guardians could see it.

Cayde, however, was unsurprised. Being punished with only paperwork was nothing new to him and was only disappointed by the fact they didn’t outright kick him from the Vanguard altogether. How he would dream of the day…

“This _was_ going to be a session where we hear everybody out, but I don’t need to know any more to understand that no one person was right in the conceiving of this event and it has lead to series of unfortunate disasters that, quite simply, could have been avoided and I’m tired of hearing it.” Aunor sounded tired as she spoke – exasperated. “Ikora will finish up, here. Cayde, I want you in my office in 27 minutes. I’ll prepare some paperwork for you to get started.”

As Aunor took her leave, Ikora stood up to address everyone. “I adjourn this session. Kallori; you will still pay for the insolence and violence, but it will be dictated by the City and under proper laws. Araeya; you too, will undergo punishment for the jailbreak act on the Awoken, but that will need discussing long-term for there are other factors at play prohibiting us from serving you right this minute. I won’t go into what they are but remember that we aren’t letting you off the hook, just yet.”

With that, everyone dispersed, leaving Amanda with Araeya and Kallori.

“Y’all never told me that this was a love story!” she said with delight.

Araeya blushed. “You have no idea…”

“If you’d have said that the first time, I’d’ve let you out, no problem! The things people’ll do fer love! I guess I’ll never understand it…”

After Amanda had left, Araeya and Kallori had a moment to themselves – something they hadn’t had properly since the incarceration. They sat at the Consensus table with their hands still interlocked. Araeya looked at them and not Kallori.

“After years of me pushing you around, the only reason you kept coming back is because all you were trying to do was tell me how you felt?” Kallori didn’t feel like she needed an answer to her question, but she asked it anyway.

Araeya took a while to answer. It was a simple ‘yes,’ but she was embarrassed to admit it. “I like you. It just sucks that it took me until you were almost taken away from me to say it.” She let out a wry chuckle.

“Hm.” Kallori looked away for a second. “I was only playing around with you, before. I didn’t know how to tell you. I like you, too. You’re like my better half – the side of me that keeps me on the ground, reminds me to be good, reminds me of the reason I have this unnatural life… But I was being dumb. I cared more about what I looked like to everyone else.”

Araeya didn’t want to hear any more. She didn’t need an explanation as to why it took them so long to admit their feelings for one another. All that mattered is that they did it and everything that made them realise love was precious, was over. They could put that mess behind them and move on.

At least, until it came back to bite them on the ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A year and a half later and this damn thing is finished. I had written myself into so many corners that I think I lined a house, but we made it work. If you stuck around for all of this, then good on ya. I was *this* close to abandoning it XD
> 
> we did it. we did it...
> 
> wait... what do we do now?


End file.
